The New Generation
by Senta1000
Summary: Harry Potter's time in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is long gone, but for his Albus, Rose, and Scorpius it is just beginning. Follow their adventures through friends and foes, love and hate, triumph and sadness. Let the years begin!
1. A Magical Start

**Authors Note: Hi everybody, so this is my first Harry Potter story, wish me luck! This story is about what happens after Harry Potter and his awesome friends who aren't appreciated enough. It's a Rose/Scorpius fanfic. The first chapter follows the chapter in the last book called 19 years later, but in Rose's perspective. I have face claims and such on my website, the link is on my profile, so check that out!**

**P.S. This is going to be my one and only disclaimer for the whole thing! I am not, I repeat, not J.K. Rowling. No copyright is owned by me, so don't report me please. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 1:**** A Magical Start**

"RON STOP WE ARE GOING TO CRASH!" My mother's urgent voice rang throughout the cramped Weasley SUV, and I looked up just in time to see my dad slam the breaks one second before our car slammed into the one in front of us.

"No we're not." Dad said lazily, looking over at the passenger seat from where mum was scowling heavily at him. She muttered something under her breath that sounded awfully like 'lunatic' or 'dead for sure', both would fit the situation, I guessed. My dad chuckled, pressing the pedal again so the car moved forward after its fellows.

In no time, our car pulled into the parking lot of Kings Cross station, screeched to a sudden halt in a parking spot, and went still.

"You really need to stop doing that you know." Mum scolded crossly, gesturing to the car, which was parked in the spot at an awkward angle, so it was almost diagonal across the space. Ron just grinned to himself, and I knew that he did that just to irk her. Our family set off through the crowds, my father pushing my trolley that contained both my trunk and my new pet owl, Aurora. The tip of my new willow and unicorn hair wand stuck out halfway from my back pocket, and I ran a hand over the handle nervously.

As the barrier came in sight, I felt a rush of adrenalin rushing through my veins. This was it, this was everything that I had wanted since I could walk and talk. I was going to Hogwarts at last!

"Here," my dad pushed my trolley over to me. "You should take this. Might break your fall if the barrier goes solid." I gulped, remembering the story of how Uncle Harry and dad bumped into the solidified barrier, and had to take a flying car to Hogwarts in second year. Mum walked over to us.

"Don't go scaring her Ronald, it is her first year after all." She said, lightly punching him on the arm.

"Yeah, wouldn't want that." My brother said slightly bitterly, walking up to them and crossing his arms. I walked over to him and hugged him tightly.

"Don't be bitter Hugo, you'll be starting next year. Until then, I'll just have to owl you everything I do every single little bitty second of my life." I joked light-heartedly.

He smiled mischievously, "You better." I looked at my mum and dad.

"You're all coming through with me, aren't you?" I said hopefully. My mother nodded tearfully.

"Yes, we are. Are you ready?" I smirked and took the trolley from my dad, and, taking a deep breath, ran at the barrier. I just had time to think 'This is a really stupid way to get onto the platform' before closed my eyes and ran through an apparently solid barrier.

When I opened my eyes on the other side, what I saw took my breath away. Hundreds of other students like me crowded the station, chattering with each other or saying goodbye to relatives. Owls hooted, cats hissed, and rodents squeaked as their owners loaded them onto The Hogwarts Express as it belted out steam. My family appeared suddenly through the barrier, Hugo gripping his father's arm, his eyes shining with excitement, obviously not scared one bit.

We moved away from the barrier, looking through the crowd for our friends. I craned my neck, looking for girls my age. I spotted the two twins, Alice and Grace Longbottom(a year younger than me), with their brother Frank, being fussed over by their mother. I also saw a blonde girl talking to her mum, who was looking around confusedly. I caught her eye and smiled, she smiled warmly back, but turned away to help her mother with her trunk.

"Look dad, I think that's them, don't you think?" Hugo pointed into the crowd to a family moving towards them. James was nowhere to be seen, probably run off to his friends, but Albus was walking towards them with Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, and Lily with a look of relief on his thin face.

"Hi." said Albus. I smiled at him, feeling just as relieved as Albus looked.

"Parked all right then?" Dad was speaking to Uncle Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I would have to Confund the examiner."

"No, I didn't." said Mum. "I had complete faith in you." As the two men walked away to get Al's trunk on the train, I smiled to myself.

"I know for a fact dad did Confund that man," I whispered to Al. "I overheard him telling Hugo, and he drives like a house-elf that has drunk too much Butterbeer!" Albus and I stood around for a few moments, looking awkwardly around in silence, until I heard my brother and Lily talking about houses. I walked over to them, and Al followed, probably not wanting to get lost in the crowd.

"No, I wouldn't want to be in Hufflepuff, those people have fuzz for brains, they trust everyone!" Hugo declared heatedly to Lily, earning some hostile looks from adults and students alike.

"Hufflepuff is better than Slytherin though, I would rather die than go there!" Lily scoffed. "So many dark wizards came from that house…" she added darkly, as an afterthought.

"Lil, ol' Voldy is gone! Not all Slytherins are bad people! What about the one that Albus was named after?"

"But—"

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," Dad interrupted, back from loading the trunks onto the train. "But no pressure."

"_Ron!_"

Lily and Hugo laughed, but I exchanged a look with Albus, we both knew how important it was to both of our fathers that we were in Gryffindor, no matter what they said to the contrary.

"He doesn't mean it." My mother and Aunt Ginny reassured us, but I was still not convinced. Dad had turned away to look into the crowd with Harry, so I turned towards my mum again.

"Look who it is." My head snapped around at the sound of dad's voice, and I followed the two men's gaze to a family a few yards down from us. The man standing there had white blonde hair, dark gray eyes, and a slightly stiff posture. In stark contrast, his wife had caramel colored brown hair and lively blue eyes with gold sparks in them, a smile on her red lips. I wondered how in the world people so different could fall in love. Maybe that was a mystery that would never be solved.

Draco Malfoy looked over at them, and nodded his head in acknowledgement of the grown-ups. I would have sworn that his eyes lingered on me for a moment there, too. He turned back to his son, and said something to him fast, inclining his head in their direction. The boy nodded, looking at us, as well, slightly curious.

"So that's little Scorpius," Dad said under his breath, then turned to me. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heavens sake," Mum said, half laughing. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," Dad said, but after a moment, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pure-blood." I giggled at my dad's antics.

"Hey!" James was back, he had obviously put his things on the train, and was bursting with news.

"Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder to where he had come from through the mist. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!" I giggled again as James looked up at his parents, obviously expecting a reaction.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing—"

"You interrupted them?" Aunt Ginny exclaimed. "You are so like Ron-" I sneaked a look at my father, but he was grinning unashamedly like always.

"—and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James said.

"He acts like he expected Teddy to ask him to stick around and watch!" She whispered to Al. Al laughed, and James, hearing, glared at her.

"—round for dinner about four times a week," said Uncle Harry. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?" James, catching on, replied enthusiastically.

"Yeah! I don't mind sharing with Al—Teddy could have my room!"

"No," Uncle Harry said firmly to James, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

"Too right." Albus whispered to me. "It would be blown up in a day…"

Harry checked his old wizarding watch that was given to a wizard when they came of age, and looked back up at us.

"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board." My stomach lurched, nerves surging, but excitement building at the thought of Hogwarts, of magic, and of new friends. I turned to look around for people to say goodbye to. My mother stood behind me, tears clear in her amber eyes. She opened her arms wide and I walked into them.

"Remember," she spoke into my ear, "don't pick fights with other students, stay out of Filch's way, watch out for Peeves, and work hard for school. You are going to make wonderful friends. I am proud of you already." She untangled herself from the hug, bent down and kissed me on my forehead. I turned, and my dad pulled me into a quick hug, too. Then he looked at me and spoke.

"Remember, Rosie, no boys!" he said firmly, and I chuckled softly and hugged him.

"Yeah, yeah, dad, no boys. Don't worry about me Mum. I'll be fine. I'll write to you every day!" I hugged Hugo, then whispered into his ear so neither mum or dad could hear me, "Remember, Hu, cause a lot of trouble for them while I'm gone. Don't want them getting too used to the calm of not having me around." Hugo smirked.

"You know you can count on me for that, sis." I gave each person another hug, then made my way over to Al, who was talking to his dad.

"—matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," Albus hugged his dad and opened his mouth to say something more, but I grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the train that was rapidly filling, waving goodbye to my parents as I did so. Al looked around at all the faces of students staring at them.

"Why are they all _staring?_"

"Don't let it worry you," I heard my dad say as I boarded the train. "It's me. I'm extremely famous." As Al jumped on next to me and the train started moving, the last thing I heard from the platform was the sound of her brother's and cousin's laughter, and then they rounded the bend and she couldn't hear anything but the wind whipping the sides of the train as it took off to Hogwarts…

-A+R+S-

As I watched Kings Cross disappear from my sight, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Albus stood behind me with his trunk in one hand.

"Get your trunk, we can find a compartment for the ride." He said, gesturing towards the luggage rack next to the door I was standing at. I nodded, hoisted my trunk down from a wooden shelf above my head, and followed Al down the row of compartments. As we peered into the windows, I noted that most of them were full. At last we reached the end of the row where we found the only empty one. We immediately stowed our luggage and flopped down on the cushioned seats, lapsing into comfortable silence. Al finally broke it.

"Are you nervous?" he asked, looking out the window towards the fast disappearing fields, then looking back at me.

"Terrified." I admitted. "I keep thinking about what happens if something goes wrong, if the Sorting Hat can't decide, if no one likes me, if I fall into the lake when we're crossing…" Albus chuckled at the last one, and opened his mouth to reply when a tentative knock sounded on the glass door.

We both looked up to see the boy that we had seen on the platform with his mother and father, Scorpius Malfoy. The boy slid the door open and walked inside, looking from Rose to Albus.

"I hope you don't mind," he said hesitantly, "This is the only compartment that's not full." He sat down on a seat three down from Albus and diagonal to me.

"Not at all." I said slowly, my father's words replaying in my head, wondering what to do. Albus clearly didn't have the same problem.

"My name's Albus Potter, and this is my cousin Rose Weasley." He said, peering curiously at Scorpius.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Scorpius Malfoy." Malfoy replied. I decided to be blunt.

"My father told me to stay away from you." I spoke to Malfoy, ignoring the startled look from Al, but Malfoy just smiled.

"Same here." He replied, smirking at me. "Dad expects me to uphold the Malfoy tradition of hating everyone in the Potter and Weasley families. Hold his grudges for him. I see no reason to obey him." I gaped him.

"Well said mate!" Al said, grinning.

"So, what house do you guys want to be in?" I asked them. Albus answered her first.

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave heart." He answered me, then turned to Scorpius. "What about you? I know your family must want you to be in Slytherin." Scorpius thought for a moment, then answered.

"I don't know. I don't really want to be another Slytherin Malfoy, you know? It seems boring, normal." He answered carefully. I nodded, understanding completely. "Also, I don't want other houses to consider me bad, just because my house. Gryffindor would be cool. What about you Rose?" I didn't hesitate.

"Gryffindor without a doubt. Ravenclaws are all either extremely, um, _eccentric_ or nerdy, Hufflepuffs are nice but they all seem the same, and, like you said, if you're in Slytherin, everyone but your own house hates you." I said disdainfully, then continued with a smirk. "Anyway, if I got any other house, I'd probably be disinherited." Scorpius laughed with Al, and I began to feel more at home.

"I just hope I'm not in Slytherin." Albus said under his breath, as if praying. I found his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"How about we make a pact?" I said to both of them, "We still be friends no matter what house we are in." The two others murmured their agreement.

"And that we'll all be in Gryffindor." Scorpius said as an afterthought, and I smiled.

-A+R+S-

"And then my grandfather was just walking into the house in his fancy black robes and all, just walking along, when he slipped in the puddle and had this **epic** fall! He literally looked like someone falling of a raving hippogriff." I laughed at that one.

"What did he do when he realized you made it happen?" Albus demanded.

"He didn't! He thought that one of his old dogs had taken a crap on the floor! He yelled at the dogs!" We were all rolling around laughing at the image of old Mr. Malfoy yelling at the two Greyhounds when the woman with the trolley opened the door.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" she asked cheerfully, she had probably seen this before. Al got up, looked at us, then grinned mischievously, then turned to the witch. He pulled out his money back.

"We'll take the lot."

As the three devoured the sweets, they argued about what would be the best part of Hogwarts.

"Definitely the food," said Al, with a dreamy look in his eye. He looked at me, "Your dad told me that there's every kind of food you can dream of, even better than Granma Weasley's meals!" I rolled my eyes.

"Nah, I think finding the secret passages will be the most fun." Scorpius said with a mischievous light in his blue eyes. "Then we can get anywhere even quicker than light itself!"

"I think the most epic part of Hogwarts will be the Room of Requirement." I said thoughtfully, grinning at the prospect of seeing the room I had heard so much about.

"I've always wondered about that room. If I wanted a room full of food, it would give it to me?" Al asked, drooling. I shook my head.

"It can't provide food, but everything else it does."

"That's cool." Scorpius said. Albus looked a little put out, and changed the subject to classes.

-A+R+S-

"Firs' years over here! Firs' years!" Scorpius, Al, and I hurried over to Hagrid's looming figure. "Alrigh' there Albus, Rosie? Made friends with Malfoy's son? Yur dad would sure be proud." He gave me a lopsided grin, and I smiled back nervously, recognizing the joke. Al didn't.

"Scorpius is not like his father, Hagrid." Al reassured the half-giant, looking serious. Hagrid ruffled his hair.

"Don' worry yurself, Al, I ain't the type to judge. Family don't make you what ye are. Look at yur grandmother, her sister looks more like a steed than a person, but she was the most brilliant witch of her age!" Scorpius, Al, and I laughed at climbed into the nearest boat, ready for Hogwarts.

-A+R+S-

"Malfoy, Scorpius!" As Scorpius pushed out from between Albus and me, I gave him the thumbs up and he smiled feebly back. As soon as the hat touched Scorpius' head, it yelled 'Gryffindor!' His face shining with happiness, he walked over to the red and gold table, sat down, and turned to watch the rest of The Sorting. After 'Nott, George', 'Nelson, Cedric', and 'Parkinson, Petunia', it was Albus' turn. His knees trembled as he stepped up to the stool, sat down, and had the Sorting Hat placed onto his head. Silence fell upon the Great Hall as they waited with baited breath to hear what it decided. After a moment or two, the hat spoke.

"Gryffindor!" The Gryffindors cheered loudly, and Albus, smiling widely, went to sit beside Scorpius. After the noise died down, the sorting continued. As 'Vitmire, Sarah' was called, I was left alone.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat called, and Sarah scurried over to the cheering badgers and sat down, looking immensely relieved.

"With knees trembling, I sat down on the stool, and McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on my head.

"Hmm.." a little voice spoke into my brain. "You are more difficult than others in your family. Brains, but also a thirst to live up to your last name. Not Hufflepuff or Slytherin, but you would be good in either of the remaining houses. You have a preference, I see. Very well. GRYFFINDOR!" I grinned and made my toward my new house towards my friends.

"Nice, Rose!" Scorpius congratulated me as Al patted me on the back. I made my face innocent.

"What, wasn't that part of our deal? You didn't think I was backing out, did you?" Scorpius just laughed.

"Good job, cuz." James said, patting me on the back like Albus. McGonagall stood up.

"As part of the tradition that Professor Dumbledore started, I will give you a few words. Twit, lingo, and lovesick. Enjoy the feast!" I was about to ask James, what was she talking about, the platters were empty, when food appeared there. Albus roared in delight and began to serve himself, piling food upon food on his plate and digging in. I caught the girl's eye that I was sitting across from—the same one from the platform, and we exchanged an exasperated look. I began to talk to her as I served myself and dug in. It turned out her name was Joline Stuart, she was muggle born, and her father had died a few years ago.

"I told you this is the best part of Hogwarts!" Al said through a mouthful. At least, I thought that was what he had said. It could have been "I mold you with the best mark of Hogwarts!" or "I rolled you miss is west rare of mug with warts."

"Sure Albus." I said, rolling my eyes at Joline again. In no time, the food was cleaned of the plates, and McGonagall sent us up to bed. A prefect led us up to the Gryffindor tower and told us the password(Mermaid), and showed us where both the dormitories were located.

"G'night boys." I said to Al and Scorpius, giving each a hug. Scorpius looked startled, but hugged me back. I then went up to the first year girls' dormitories. Joline was there already, unpacking her trunk. So were four other girls, doing the same thing. I flopped down on the bed that had my trunk next to it, then looked up at my dorm mates.

"Why don't we introduce ourselves," I said, "My name is—" One of the girls looked up from putting her many clothes into a chest of drawers.

"Oh, we know who _you_ are." She said scornfully, "You're Rose Weasley, daughter of the oh so perfect people who defeated the dark lord!"

"Yeah." The girl next to her added, looking at the first with rapt attention. I looked dejectedly around at the other girls, wondering if I would get the same treatment from them. One of the girls gave me a sympathetic glance.

"My name's Abigail Finnigan," the girl whispered, putting out her hand, "That girl who insulted you is called Amber McLaggen. Her mother hates yours for some reason, don't bother yourself about her. Her sidekick is called Riley." I shook her hand gratefully.

"I'm Gracie Corner." The other girl introduced herself, shyly putting out her hand, and I shook it too.

"I think we'll all be great friends." I announced to the other three girls.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Joline said, switching the light in the room off. "Enough of the sentimental stuff. I'm exhausted, and I'm sure you girls are too. I'm going to go to sleep." I yawned and got into bed. I lay there thinking for a few minutes. I had already made four friends, Scorpius Malfoy, Joline Stuart, Abigail Finnigan, and Gracie Corner. It already looked like Hogwarts would be a blast.


	2. A Chance

**Authors Note: Hi people! This chapter is basically where I start the story, the other was kind of like a prologue, and it starts in 5th year, on the week before Halloween. Hope you like it!**

**P.S. When they're passing notes, Scorpius is bold, Rose is **_italics_**, Albus is **underlined, **and when Joline joins in, she's **_**bold italics.**_

**Chapter 3:**** A Chance**

_**Fifth year...**_

I was sitting by the fire in the common room at quarter to midnight, writing the final sentence on a Transfiguration essay due tomorrow, when Al and Scorpius sat down on either side of me. I finished it with a flourish and looked up at them. Al spoke first.

"So…. We were thinking Rosie, we haven't done our first prank this year yet." I smiled knowingly. We had talked about pranking since we met on the train ride to Hogwarts, and decided that our first one of each year would have to be special, but we had still not delivered one this year.

"Go on."

"We have to do a Halloween prank," Scorpius declared. " We always do one, but we've never had one as one of our legendary firsts. We can make it near the end of the Halloween dance, so that people can enjoy the dance _and then _have it be spoiled! What do you say Rosie?" I sighed, I had really been looking forward to the Halloween dance, but, after all, it was our first prank this year… It couldn't really hurt(hopefully), and why shouldn't we add a bit of our own fun to the best occasion of every year.

"Come on Rose, help us plan it!" Al begged, making a puppy-dog face.

"Well duh I'll help you plan it, but no hurting anyone, ok?" I said.

"Yesss!" Scorpius cheered, and Al clapped me on the back heartily. I smiled mischievously. I already knew exactly what we should do.

"Ok, okay, so, I've actually already thought about what we're gonna do this year. We're finally allowed to go to the ball this year, so it has to be phenomenal." They both nodded, and I smirked. This would be the best prank ever. This would be a Halloween that no student in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would ever forget.

-A+R+S-

When Joline woke me in the morning, she found that I had big circles under my eyes, but was in a good mood.

"You all look like you got an hour of sleep, but have big grins on your faces like Christmas came early! This can't be good…" she said to Scorp, Al, and I at breakfast, shaking her head.

"You know me too well, Lina." I said to her, helping myself to the eggs. "Don't worry, you'll find out _all _about it at the Halloween Ball." I said. Her eyes widened.

"Well now I'm scared." She joked, and waited for me to elaborate, but I kept silent so she relented.

"Speaking of the ball, are you hoping anyone in particular will ask you?" she asked me, looking around suggestively at the guys in the hall.

"I never thought you were the type to moon over boys, Lina." I said, nudging her in the ribs with my elbow.

"Well, are you?" she said, ignoring my comment. I looked around at the hall, taking in all the boys.

"I don't know…." I said, blushing. "Frank's a looker, isn't he?" I gave a sideways glance to Scorpius and Al, grinning in my mind at the way they both stiffened at the sound of me talking about boys that way. I knew that both of them were very protective(in a brotherly way, obviously) with me. James leaned over to us and winked at Lina.

"Hey, Stuart, thinking of taking an older boy to the ball?" Lina snorted scornfully.

"In your dreams, Potter." She said, turning away from him. "I don't think you want to know about my dreams." he replied suggestively. She rolled her eyes at him and turned away.

I smiled to myself. James had been chasing after Lina since she had come to Hogwarts, earning her death glares from many older girls and causing her reputation to be 'the girl that all the guys wanted'. Lina had always resented James, and she was convinced that all she would be if she dated him was a notch on his bedpost. 'He just wants a challenge.' She said to me the first time I inquired about the unwanted attention. I thought that Lina was right at first about James, but his feelings had developed a lot more since then, and he really did like her.

_-Flashback to third year-_

_"Potter!" Lina's angry voice rang across the courtyard, and James turned his head to look at her, familiar smirk in place. Joline walked up to him, hands on hips. "What did you do that for, Potter?" she growled, staring him down._

_"I don't know what you're talking about, Stuart." He said, obviously enjoying the rage drifting off Lina in waves._

_"You damn well know what I'm talking about Potter," Lina took a step closer to him, but he kept his ground, looking calm despite the warning signs that Lina was showing. "Why did you hex my date to the ball? No guys will come near me from now on because of this!"_

_"Oh, that," James smirked, taking a step closer as she took a step back. "Well, I thought he had it coming to him." Lina threw her hands in the air._

_"Had it coming to him for what? For asking me out? Or for just for just not bothering to bend down at your feet and worship you? Well, Potter, contrary to your beliefs, the whole world is not about YOU and I don't give a shit about what you do!" Everyone in the courtyard was staring now, and I tried to take Lina from the elbow and get her away, but she shook me off._

_"Well, you seem to care about what I did today." He said, stepping even closer to her but she held her ground this time. Staring up into his face, she spoke slowly and the venom in her words was clear._

_"Stay out of my life, Potter, once and for all." Then she stormed away, leaving me to send an apologetic glance at James then hurry after her._

_-End of Flashback-_

"Maybe you should give him a chance Lina." I said thoughtfully as we walked up to charms together. She stared at me in disbelief, but I continued swiftly before she could argue. "I don't mean agreeing to date him and all that, just let him take you to the Halloween dance."

"We are thinking of the same person, aren't we?" she said, looking at me as if I had lost my brains. I laughed a bit.

"As his cousin, Lina, I assure you that he is not as bad as you think he is, though he can be very annoying." I said, crossing my heart sarcastically. She looked hesitant at the prospect, but then smiled at me.

"You could be right," she said softly. Then, in a louder, more confident voice. "After all, I can't give him the evidence of a rotten date if I don't try it." I laughed at her antics as we walked into class, and set my books down on the table, Lina sliding in next to me. The other students stared at us for being late, but Professor Flitwick didn't seem to notice. I felt something hit the back of my head, and leaned over to pick up the piece of parchment that Scorpius had levitated over to me. Luckily we were practicing summoning and banishing charms, so it wouldn't be frowned upon.

**Why were you late? You're usually Miss Goody Two Shoes… apart from the pranks of course.**

_I walk slow. And I'm going to ignore that comment._

**Gossiping with Lina, more like! Hm, what about? Lets take a guess. Boys.**

_That is __**not**__ what we talk about most of the time._

**Sure.**

_Actually, we were talking about James. I think I kind of persuaded her to say yes to him, maybe._

HOLEY SHIT, REALLY? HAVE PIGS ALREADY GROWN WINGS, OR IS THE GIANT SQUID TAKEN?

**That was Albus. Are you serious?**

_No I'm Rose._

**Very funny. But really, are you?**

_Yeah. I suggested it to her, and she kind of joked that she couldn't prove to him that it wouldn't work if she didn't actually try it._

That's just cruel! James likes her a lot.

_I know, but she thinks that if she dates him she'll just be another girl of the week._

James hasn't had a girl of the week since the beginning of his third year.

**Yeah, it's kind of depressing. I wouldn't be able to stand it.**

_Yeah, yeah, yeah, Scorp. We all know about your proud reputation as the man man-whore of the school._

**Shut up, you know I was just kidding.**

He'll date her one day, I bet.

_**Talking about me, now are you?**_

Uh, hi Lina. We were just…

**Talking about the probability of you and James getting together. All of us think it's pretty high.**

_**I hate you guys.**_

_You didn't need to say that, Scorpius._

**I know, I just felt like it.**

…

_I agree with Al._

I didn't say anything though!

_EXACTLY._

**Well, I agree with Lina. I hate you guys.**

_Love you too, Scorp._

**Hate to burst your bubble Rosie, but I only like you as a friend.**

_Bitch._

**I thought you liked dogs.**

_Shut up, Scorpius._

Lovers quarrel.

_GRRRRR…_

-A+R+S-

"How are you going to ask him?" I wondered to Lina, my teenage brain immediately going to cheesy romance novels and romantic asking out scenes. Lina snorted.

"Ask him? I'm not going to ask him! I'm going to tell him." Lina said. Spotting James with his friends, Lina walked over to him.

"Hey Stuart." His hand immediately jumped to his hair, and he gave her a lopsided grin. Joline ignored it.

"I've decided to give you a chance, one chance, Potter, hear? I'll go with you to the Halloween dance, but that's it." She said. With that she walked away, leaving a shocked James in her wake. Then the situation seemed to hit him, and he punched his fist in the air, a ridiculous silly smile on his face. I grinned and hurried after her. Never a calm moment.


	3. No Fucking Way

**Authors Note: Another chapter people! The dance will take place in this chapter, there will be some Scorpius/Rose tension, costumes, Hogmeade, dates, and, well, everything! Enjoy!**

**P.S. Sorry for not updating sooner.**

**P.P.S. I changed the year to fifth, not fourth.**

**Chapter 4: No Fucking Way**

**REMINDER:**

**The Halloween Dance**

**Tomorrow at 6:10**

I sat in an armchair near the Gryffindor fire, staring at the message board with a—hopefully—unreadable expression on my face.

Lina, coming down the girl's staircase, sat down across from me. "What's with the long face?" she asked, squinting at my expression. I sighed.

"Frank Longbottom asked me to the dance." I said to her.

"Is that a bad thing?" She looked confused, "I thought you thought he was gorgeous, what changed?" I shrugged.

"Nah, that was just to make Al and Scorpius uncomfortable. I don't really think of him like that." I admitted.

"Well, it's not like you're agreeing to marry him! You don't even have to date him, it's just going to the dance together!" She insisted, looking at me exasperatedly. "I mean, look at me, I don't even like the guy, I just am trying him out." I bit my lip, considering, then smiled.

"I guess, thanks Lina."

"Anytime! Isn't that what best friends are for?" she ushered me upstairs to the girls dormitory, where I found Gracie and Gabby waiting for me. The two had hit off right away, just like Lina and I, and were the best of friends. It was unusual, because while Gracie had a very timid and quiet personality, Abby was off-the-charts loud and hyper, and was not at all afraid to voice her opinions.

"So, girls!" Lina said to all of us once we were seated on our beds or the ground. "We have something very important to discuss. Costumes for the party! We have to go as a group, have similar costumes that fit together, you know." All the other girls nodded, and I said,

"That's a good idea. What should we go as though?"

"How about a popular band? We could be The Weird Sisters!" Joline suggested cheerfully.

"Yeah, that would be good." Gabby said sarcastically, "Going as an all male band from Slytherin house." We all laughed, and Joline crossed her slender arms over her chest in mock-hurt.

"How about being magical creatures? Like a phoenix." Gracie suggested. We looked at each other, then back at her in confusion. She continued before anyone could say anything. "Not actually dressing with a bird head or anything like that, but just the idea of one, like a red dress and a headdress or even wings." We looked at each other for a moment.

"You are seriously a genius, Gracie!" Gabby burst out suddenly, and we are chorused our agreement, pressing together in a group hug. Gracie blushed as she emerged from the middle of it, and Lina clapped her hands together.

"Lets do this!" she said, putting her hair up in a messy ponytail and grabbing her wand off the floor.

Two hours, four outfits, and twenty-five accessories later, we had all decided on what we were going to be, wear, accessorize with, and look like. Gracie was to be a mermaid, Gabby a black dragon, Lina a phoenix, and I was to be Pegasus. Originally I was going to go as a unicorn, but, as Joline put it, 'having a horn is too little kid, and we want you to seem grown up'. We wouldn't even need to get anything in Hogsmeade since we had conjured and transformed all we needed.

-A+R+S-

"So I heard you were going to the dance with Frank Longbottom, is that true?" Scorpius asked me at breakfast on Sunday. Al looked up from his Daily Prophet, staring at me in surprise.

"Yeah," I answered coolly, "Is that a problem?" Scorpius looked away.

"No problem, just wondering." He said. An uncomfortable silence followed, and Lina was the one to break it as she sat down between Scorp and I.

"Brrr…." She said, breaking the silence, "Did they put ice-cream in you're breakfasts, or is this just the 'I'm weirded out by the fact that Rose has begun to like boys silence?"

"Hey!" Al and Scorpius both exclaimed, crossing their arms across their chests. I laughed, glad that Lina was here.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." Joline muttered quietly. James came over just then and sat down next to Al, across from Lina.

"So, Stuart, ready for our date today?" James asked her, his left hand ruffling his already messy hair up. Lina snorted.

"Don't kid yourself, Potter. This is only a pity date."

"Keep telling yourself, Stuart." James got up and sent a roguish wink at Lina, and then left. Lina clapped herself hard on the forehead and pretended to fall down and die. Then she looked up at me.

"Why did I agree to this, Rose? Tell me!" Al laughed and went back to his cereal, and Scorpius was still sulking about what Lina had said earlier. Or, just about something.

"You ok, Scorpius?" I asked him, concerned. He looked sharply up at me, then nodded and got up from the table. I stared after him confusedly.

"What's up his butt?" I asked Al, and he shrugged. Dominique, who had been listening to our whole conversation, leaned over.

"I think he just found out that the girl he likes is taken." She said, and Al and I nodded, not taking the hint at all. Lina was a different story, however, and her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, but she said nothing.

-A+R+S-

"I'm not sure this was a good idea." Joline fretted, twirling her magically curled hair around her finger. Gabby looked over to her from where she was finishing her makeup and smirked.

"What's wrong Lina, you nervous?" she asked innocently.

"Yeah," I added, catching on. "Anyone would think you actually liked him."

"Or maybe LOVED him!" Gracie added, smirking too. Lina threw a badly aimed pillow at us, and we collapsed on top of each other laughing.

"Shut up, let's go down." She muttered mutinously, and we collected ourselves to go down. As we descended the girl's staircase, three pairs of jaws dropped, Frank, James, and Scorpius. Albus looked bored at the attention the other boys were giving them, and adjusted his silver tie(none of them had bothered to dress up).

"You look great." Frank whispered into my ear, and I smiled.

"You do too." I said to him, and I wasn't lying. Even with his black suit, gray tie, and black pants, he managed to look loose and hot. He looked at his watch.

"We should probably go." He smiled at me, and I took his arm, then looked back, waiting for Lina, but she appeared to be in an argument with James, so I let her be.

-A+R+S-

"No! I swear that if you ask me one more time I will punch you in the nose!" I said crossly, flicking my hair back out of my eyes. James made a puppy-dog face that I couldn't say no to. "Oh, fine." I said, letting him lead me onto the dance floor.

"I didn't know you liked to dance." I exclaimed, my body moving to the beat. James looked into my eyes, his gorgeous hazel eyes mysterious. NO! I did not just think that his eyes were gorgeous.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Lina." I froze, staring at him.

"What?" he looked at me, smiling as I stared at him. "You look like you just found out that your wand split in two!"

"You… you just called me Lina." I said in a quavering voice, still staring at him frozen in place.

"So? That's your name." he laughed, and I scowled.

"No, it's just… you've never called me by my first name, only my last name."

"What? You're last name is too nice too waste." He smirked, and I hit him across the head, and made my way off the dance floor, and James followed me off. "Hey, that was only a few minutes." He pouted.

I was about to respond, then I caught sight of Scorpius' date. My mouth dropped open. "No fucking way." I muttered to myself.

"What?" James was by my side, and followed my gaze. "Why is he with _her?_" James asked. I shook my head in disgust.

"Take a guess." I told him. His eyes widened.

"You… you don't think… he's _with_ her, do you?" he asked.

"That is EXACTLY what I think." I said, and turned away, my eyes searching the crowd for Rose.

-A+R+S-

"This is so fun!" I said to Frank, catching my breath as we made our way off the crowded dance floor. He nodded, his cheeks flushed. I looked at him for a long while, then looked down at my feet.

"Rose," I looked up as he spoke. His eyes were gentle. "I know this might be too soon for you, since this is the first time we've actually went somewhere together." He hesitated, embarrassed, then continued on in a rush. "Wouldyouliketogooutwithme?"

"Sorry?" I laughed, and he blushed.

"Would you like you go out with me?" I stared at him, startled for a moment, then what happened seemed to hit me. Then I kissed him full on the mouth, happiness rushing through me and washing away all my doubts about going with him. He kissed me back eagerly, and we kissed until someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned and saw Lina standing there.

"We have a problem." She said without pre-amble, and I looked confused. She sighed, "Do you remember Scorpius ever mentioning whom he was bringing here?" she asked, and I shook my head. "Well, I think I just found out. You're not going to like this." She pointed to something behind me, and I turned and looked. Scorpius Malfoy was locked by the lips with a brown-haired girl that Rose knew very well. Amber McLaggen to be specific.


	4. Up In The Air

**Authors Note: Happy New Year, people! So, in this chapter you will find out what their prank is, there will be a lot of yelling, and, yeah. Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 5: Up In The Air**

"No fucking way." I said as I stared at Scorpius wrapped around Amber McLaggen, eating her face off, literally.

"That's what I said!" Joline exclaimed, looking in rage from me to the couple that were still snogging in the middle of the hall. We just stared at them, and if looks could kill, ashes would rest where the pair were kissing at this moment. "What should we do?" Lina asked, and I sighed, running my fingers through my silky brown curls. Then suddenly an idea popped into my head.

"I have an idea." I exclaimed, rushing away from the group to search the crowd for Albus, whom I spotted dancing with a girl from Ravenclaw. I pulled him away by his forearm into a distant corner.

"Bloody ow, Rosie!" Al said, rubbing his arm painfully. "What did you do that for? I was about to ask Bella Clearwater to—"

"We have to do our prank early." I interrupted him urgently.

"Why? I thought we were going to—" Albus started, then he caught sight of the couple in the middle of the hall and stiffened. I looked at him sadly.

"He didn't tell you either, I assume?" I asked him, and he shook his head in disbelief, then looked back at me.

"Okay," he said, and I sighed in relief. "Lets do it."

-A+R+S-

I scowled at where Rose and Longbottom were standing, jealousy coursing through my veins. _That should be me._ I thought bitterly as the couple left the room along with Joline and James in tow. Albus gave me a questioning look and I shrugged in return, allowing him to follow them out the entrance. _Good_. I thought, still waiting for my date to come down from the girl dormitories.

She descended the staircase in a ring of glory, her long caramel colored hair twisted into an elegant not. I had chosen her because I knew from all of Rose's rants that Amber McLaggen was the one girl that would make her the most mad, or, preferably, jealous.

"Hello, handsome." Amber said in a sickeningly sweet voice that made me want to barf, but instead I threw her a trademark smirk, took her arm, and headed down to the dance, Riley trailing in our wake.

After half an hour at the Halloween dance, I was not having any fun. Amber seemed to sense this.

"Need cheering up?" she tittered, winking at me suggestively.

"Yes please." I answered, she wrapped her body around mine, and as our lips met, I spotted Lina watching horror-struck in the back round. Phase one complete.

-A+R+S-

"Ouch, Al, that was my foot!" Rose exclaimed as I accidentally stepped on her.

"Sorry." I whispered. I stared at my best friend in the middle of the hall, snogging McLaggen, and anger surged through me once again. Rose put her hand comfortingly on my shoulder in a calming gesture. I shook off my feelings, and looked over at her. "On three." I said, pulling my wand out of my back pocket, Rose doing the same.

**"One…. Two… THREE!"** On three, we both swished our wands in an identical motion and pointed them into the open air in the place. A jet of light was released and suddenly people's feet started leaving the ground. Screams and whoops and curses filled the air as everyone, including us, started floating up to the ceiling. As the kissing couple started floating, Amber detached herself from Scorpius and began to scream bloody murder. Scorpius grinned at me, but I turned my head away coldly. Rose was pretending to do a breast-stroke in the air, giggling silently. I laughed at her antics and she crossed her arms on her chest in midair, making me laugh even louder.

-A+R+S-

"I just don't understand why you're so angry at me!" Scorpius shouted as I stormed up the marble staircase.

"Maybe it had something to do with the fact that you went to the ball with Amber McLaggen, my sworn enemy since **first year, **and kissed her right in front of the whole school!" I yelled at him, my cheeks flushed with anger.

"So? Are you jealous, Weasley?" he smirked, making me even more furious. I walked up to him so that we were nose to nose.

"Jealous? Why would I be JEALOUS? I HAVE A **BOYFRIEND!"** I yelled as I stormed up the stairs away from his figure, which was frozen in place, staring up at the place where I had been in horror.


	5. Forgive, But Never Forget

**Authors Note: Hi people! So, this is another chapter, I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to write, so I'm just making it up on the spot! School started for me last week, so I probably will be limiting my posts to one a week, sorry! Maybe two times a week if you're lucky. Enjoy!**

**P.S. Sorry for the long wait.**

**Chapter 6: Forgive, But Never Forget**

I ran up the stairs to the girl's dormitories two steps at a time, crashing through the doorway to the Fifth Year Girls Dormitories and throwing myself down onto the floor, sobbing. I wailed silently, tears streaming down my face as I pictured his smirk, and him kissing McLaggen. I sobbed harder, and for ten minutes I lay there crying until all my tears had been spent and I was staring blankly at the ceiling, whimpering.

Lina ran into the dormitories just then, and when she spotted me on the floor, a look of concern flew over her face. She hurried over to me and flopped herself down onto the ground.

"Well, I'm tired! All that floating around has broken me a sweat." She exclaimed cheerfully, wiping her brow and making me smile a bit. That's what I like about Joline. Usually before she comforts me, she tries to cheer me up my making a joke, and usually it works. It's like her version of 'What's wrong'.

"When I saw Scorpius kissing _her,_ I just felt… so mad. How could he do that to me? He knows how much I hate her, how much my mother hated her mother _and_ father, how much _she_ hates_ me_! He did it on purpose to make me mad, I know it." There was a long pause before Lina spoke.

"I agree with you. I felt so disgusted when he was eating her." She said seriously. I laughed hard. "I'm serious!"

"No. You're Lina." I said through giggles. She rolled her eyes and continued.

"No, but really, I think you're right, he did use her to make you mad, even if he didn't realize it. And, about the family thing, that is so overdone." She smirked, and I fumed once more.

"Yeah," I said as I cooled down. "I guess the night wasn't _all_ bad." I thought of when Frank had asked me out, and a lightness in my belly appeared again as I thought of his lips touching mine. Lina smiled mischievously.

"Oh yes, I interrupted something didn't I?" I shoved her, the infamous Weasley blush creeping over my cheeks. "So… What happened? I want _all_ of the details." she positioned her belly on the cool wood floor and propped her head up by her elbows, staring at me.

"Well, there isn't much to tell." I said, smiling happily, "He asked me out and I planted one on him." Lina jumped up and down energetically.

"HE ASKED YOU OUT? OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!" She hopped from foot to foot, screaming silently and staring at me. To an onlooker, it would look as if the floor was made of burning coals, and I was somehow immune. When she finally settled down, I looked at her closely.

"Sooo….." I began slyly, "I wasn't the only one with a date to the ball. How did your date with James go?" I smirked, and was surprised to see that she blushed, making me smirk even wider.

"It was… good. I really enjoyed myself." She avoided my question, blushing harder.

"_That_ wasn't what I asked. Do you like him after tonight?" I asked her bluntly.

"I don't know, Rosie." She answered carefully, standing up and pacing the room. "What I _do _know is that I no longer think of him as arrogant and hotheaded, that he is not what I thought entirely, and that…" she trailed off.

"Yeah?" I stood up and walked over to where she was standing, and looked into her teal colored eyes, which were full of doubt and wary excitement.

"And that if he asked me out again I would say yes." She finished, turning away from my penetrating gaze. It was my turn to be excited now.

"YOU WOULD SAY YES? OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!" I squealed, pulling her into a hug and jumping up and down. Lina smiled and detached herself from my arms.

"OK, party's over." She said firmly, but I spotted a trace of a smile as she walked back down the girl's staircase to the common room.

-A+R+S-

I walked into the seventh year boy's dormitories with a huge silly grin on my face, and Fred, looking up and catching sight of it, smirked at me.

"I'm guessing your date went well then?" he said, walking over to me and clapping me on the shoulder. I shoved him, blushing. "No, seriously, you look like you just got laid. You didn't, did you?"

"Yeah, I did," I said to Fred sarcastically, "Lina _totally_ went from hating me to dragging me into a broom closet."

"Well, she _did_ ask you out, and since she was hating you a few days ago, that would be just as weird." He said, smiling. "Bloody ow, James!" He rubbed his head painfully as I smiled in satisfaction(I had hit him a moment earlier).

"I don't know what I should do now, though. I mean, if I asked her out, would she say yes?" I asked him, confused.

"I'll tell you what you do. Pluck up the courage and ask her out to Hogsmeade!" Fred counseled me, slapping me on the back. I put my head in my hands and groaned, shaking my head.

"How many times have you told me to do just that, and how many times have I made a fool of myself because of it?" I asked him sarcastically.

"Ahh, but there is a difference this time! Do you know what it is?"

"She agreed to go with me to the dance." I mumbled, still not heartened.

"Correction, my dear fellow, _you_ agreed to go with _her_ to the dance! She was the one to do the asking!"

"But what if she says no? _AGAIN."_ I stood up angrily and paced around the dormitory.

"She won't." Both Fred and I jumped then looked towards the dormitory entrance.

"BLOODY HELL, Rose, what are you doing up here?" I yelled, still surprised. She smiled at his reaction, reminding me of the fact that, despite her innocent looks, she could be a little devil. She plopped herself down next to Fred, who grinned at her.

"I came to talk to you, get some points straight." She said, and I leaned forward expectantly. "Lina is not sure if she likes you or not, _but_ she says that if you ask her out, she will say yes, so this would be the time to do that." It took a while for Rose's words to sink in. _Lina is not sure if she likes you or not, she will say yes… she will say yes… She will say yes? SHE WILL SAY YES!_ A grin slowly spread over my face, happiness flowing through my veins. Joline Stuart, the girl I have been in love with for the past four years, would say YES!

-A+R+S-

"Rose, please, I didn't know it would bother you that much!" Scorpius pleaded to me as Albus looked on. HE had already forgiven Scorpius, the little traitor.

"The funny thing is Scorpius, I don't believe you. I think that's exactly WHY you did it." I said through gritted teeth, staring anywhere BUT the boy in front of me. He didn't say anything, and I sighed. "Fine, I'll forgive you. But I _won't_ forget this." His eyes lit up comically and he hugged me tightly.

"I don't know what I would do if you didn't forgive me. Probably throw myself off a building!" he said, pretending to wipe tears away from his eyes. I hit him across the head with the book I was holding, he glared at me, and Al laughed. I know I can't stay angry with him, anyway, it's just impossible. Boy, it was good to be back…


	6. Simple and Sweet

**Authors Note: Hi people! So… This is a short chapter, and I'm sorry for that. I hope you like it though, I put a lot of effort into it 'cause I'm having writers block. Sorry! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7: Simple and Sweet**

"Are you sure this is going to work?" James muttered to me as he walked into the Great Hall, pulling at the bottom of his shirt nervously.

"Yes, it will," I said firmly, ignoring his nerves. "Simple and sweet is the best way to do it. If you put on a big show she'll think you're just playing with her." James nodded tightly, then walked over to the Gryffindor table, sitting down with his mates as I sat with mine.

"What were you doing talking to Potter for?" Joline asked me as I seated myself at the table across from her and next to Abby. I laughed at her question.

"He's my cousin, Lina, I think I'm allowed to not hate him even if you do." I answered her.

"I… I don't _hate_ him." Lina said. Abby spat out the bite of sandwich she had in her mouth and stared at Lina, as if doubting her sanity. I reached over and put my hand on her brow jokingly.

"Are you feeling alright, Lina?" I asked her. She snorted and turned her head away as Gracie and I laughed and Abby continued to look dumbfounded.

-A+R+S-

"You ok James?" Fred asked me after half and hour into the conversation, following my gaze over to the four girls seated at the end of the table.

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine." I told him, yanking my eyes away from Joline's miniature scowl that she was wearing as the other girls laughed and Abigail Finnigan stared.

"Are you going to go through with it?" Fred asked me, jerking his head in the direction of the girls to show what he meant. I nodded my head and got up, making my way over to the girls.

"Hey, Lina, can I have a word with you?" I asked her, trying to show no sign of arrogance or scorn in my question. She nodded quickly and ducked under the table and climbed out the other side, not flustered at all. I laughed inwardly, and made my way over a few yards away from her friends, Lina following me. I turned around and she stopped, a questioning look in her sea green eyes.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked me, tipping her head slightly to the side.

"I… well… I wondered if…. Will you go out with me?" I said in a rush, my cheeks reddening for the first time, as I looked down at my shoes. It was silly, I thought, that I would get embarrassed now for the first time when I had asked her out a hundred times before. I looked up from my laces and was startled by what I saw. If I thought I had been blushing, it was nothing compared to what Lina was doing now.

"Okay then." She said, her cheeks a deep shade of scarlet the whole time. I gaped in surprise. She had said YES? To ME? I smiled widely, and she returned my grin. Then she kissed me swiftly on the cheek and all but sprinted away. I felt the spot where she kissed my cheek, and pledged that I would never wash it again.

-A+R+S-

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Abby whisper/screamed at Lina as she approached our table again, her cheeks a violent shade of deep pink.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lina muttered, trying to play dumb as she slid under the Gryffindor table to the other side.

"Don't you play dumb with me Joline Stuart! You just totally planted one on the poor boy! He's going to walk around for the rest of the day with a concussion, thinking of nothing else! He's already gone loony, just LOOK at him!" Abby all but yelled, gesturing wildly over to the spot that James was still standing. He was standing stock still, a stupid grin on his face, every once and a while feeling the cheek she had planted a kiss on. I laughed loudly, and Lina blushed even harder, making her look as red as a cherry.

"It's true, Lina, he's smitten." Gracie said gravely, trying hard to conceal a smile and failing miserably. Abby promptly burst out laughing, still staring at James who was now being "guided" out of the Great Hall by Fred, and was literally bouncing off walls.

"Shut up." Was all Lina could come up with and Gracie and I joined Abby in our laughter.

-A+R+S-

"Heyyy Scorpie!" Scorpius groaned as he heard the high pitched annoying voice of Amber McLaggen ring out from behind him. Albus sneaked a glance at him, but he took no notice. Amber linked her arm onto Scorpius' and pulled him aside. "So… I was thinking we could go to Hogsmeade this time together, since we're _totally_ the next It couple of Hogwarts and—" Scorpius cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"Amber, I really don't have time for this. I don't like you; I was just using you to make someone jealous. You have caused enough problems for my friends and I. Good-_**bye**_." And he walked away leaving a stunned Amber in his wake.

"Good for you, Scorp." Al told him, clapping him on the back and both the boys made their way to charms, laughing and joking as always. Rose joined them half-way and they were both stunned but the way that Joline had said yes when James asked her out for the, um, let me think, twenty billionth time. Only then did Scorpius realize that he had been completely and utterly stupid about what he said to Amber, and the fact that he was trying to make someone jealous would probably be all around the school by tonight.


	7. Because of You

**Author's Note: Hi people! So, this is an extra long chapter for me, so I hope you enjoy it! Like you asked team., I put some Rose/Frank in it, I also have some Gracie/Albus too; I love that coupling personally. If you were wondering, Gracie is the daughter of Cho Chang and Michael Corner. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 8: Because of You**

Dear mum,

It's good to be back at Hogwarts at last. I was missing all the drama, to be honest, and the pranks, and of course having the Treo back together. We had a Halloween dance this year, and Frank Longbottom asked me to go! I said yes of course, we had a wonderful time and now we're going out, it's so exciting! If you're going to tell dad, try to find him at a good time, you know how he can get with boys and such. Al went stag, and Scorpius went with—wait for it— **AMBER MCLAGGEN!** Merlin, I hate that girl. He told her to back off afterwards, though, I know he doesn't like her, it's just SO annoying that he would bring her anyways. We had our first prank at the ball; too, it really gave her (McLaggen) a fright, right in the middle of _snogging_ Scorp! The look on her face was priceless. I know, I know, pranking is bad, blah blah blah. Guess what? Lina decided to give James a chance! THEY'RE GOING OUT NOW TOO! Who would've thought?

Lots of Love,

Rose

-A+R+S-

Dearest Rose,

I hope you're having fun with all the drama there, but hold off on the pranks, if you please! The dance sounded wonderful, and I'm happy to hear that you are happy with Frank, though personally I would've guessed otherwise…. Ron isn't though, and that is why he is currently hovering over my shoulder reading everything I'm writing. Al will find someone, and as for Scorpius, give him a hit on the head from me. That one is just like her mother, I'm telling you. Your prank sounds amusing enough, but you haven't told me what it was. Lina would have to give in sometime, and, come to think of it, I have to collect my winnings from Ginny, we've all been betting on it. Feel free to tell them that. All is well at home.

Love,

Mum

P.S. **NO BOYS ROSIE! I MEAN IT, NONE! I DO NOT CARE IF HE IS A FAMILY FRIEND; YOU ARE TOO YOUNG TO DATE! –Dad**

Dear Mum,

I won't give up on pranks, and I'm sure dad agrees with me in that sense! The prank we did took away the gravity out of the Great Hall, so everyone floated up to the ceiling! McLaggen started screaming bloody murder right off the bat; it was hilarious. From what I heard, she took a hard landing as well. I think I've given Scorp enough raps over the head, thanks Mum. Oooh, how much did you win? Lina wasn't very pleased to hear about you guys betting on her, her cheeks turned bright red, but that might have been embarrassment, who knows?

Love,

Rose

P.S. Aww, dad, I'm so glad you're happy for me!

I sealed the letter and attached it Aurora's leg, watching as she flew off into the air. I sighted as I remembered my last line to my father.

"Why the long face Rosie?" Frank asked as he came up from behind me, snaking his long arms around my waist. I smiled at his romantic gesture, we had been dating for a week, but it already seemed like years.

"My dad doesn't approve of you and I." I said flatly. Frank chuckled wisely.

"Ah, well, your father doesn't really approve of you and _any_ guy, so I shouldn't be to worried, eh?" He said, quirking his left eyebrow up quizzically. I laughed, and he took that as a sign that my mood was gone. He gave me a quick peck and then grabbed my hand and we left the owlery together.

"True, but you're the first guy I've actually dated." I said then realized what I had just said, and my eyes widened.

"I'm the first one you've ever dated, eh Rosie?" Frank smirked, apparently not affected at all by the news. "Way to make a guy feel special, Weasley." I laughed at the use of my surname, and ran down the hall away from Frank, him chasing me playfully.

"You'll never catch me!" I giggled, running at high speed down the hall.

"Don't make promises you can't keep!" Frank puffed behind me. I stopped finally for breath next to an old broom cupboard, leaning against the hard stone of the wall as Frank caught up to me. He kissed me passionately, his lips and mine fitting together as easily as two pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. When he let me up for breath, I laughed, still winded from our race. This was the best moment of our young lives, I thought, standing here sharing kisses, not a care in the world.

My hands went to his hair as I deepened the kiss, bringing our bodies together, his hands cupping my face. We snogged for what seemed like forever, until I heard the noise of a clearing of the throat. I looked up to see Lina smirking knowingly at me, and my cheeks flushed.

"Oh, uh, hi Lina! We were just…" I trailed off awkwardly, and she smirked even bigger as Frank and I composed ourselves (I re-buttoned the few buttons on my shirt that had somehow managed to come undone).

"As much as I hate to break this up," Lina said, the grin on her face making me cringe, "We have business to attend to. Come along Rosie." I gave Frank an apologetic smile and one last kiss and departed with Lina.

"What is this 'business' that you speak of, Lina?" I asked my best friend, keeping pace with her steady stride as we walked back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Before I tell you that," Lina said, stopping at the Fat Lady and giving her the password. "I have to warn you about the stares you're going to get from your family and friends alike."

"Why would they stare at me?" I asked her, trying to stop her from pushing me through the entrance.

"Because you have a hickey on your neck." She answered, jamming me through the portrait hole despite my protests. I groaned as I heard this, because, as far as I knew, there was no spell to get rid of a hickey. True to her word, many of my friends and family saw the blemish on my neck and scowled, laughed, smirked, and looked disgusted respectively.

"Ok, so what is so important, anyway?" I asked her as we climbed up the girl's staircase, walking into the fifth year girl's dorm, where Abby was already seated. She didn't question the hickey on my neck, which I was grateful for.

"We have to intervene in Gracie's love life." Abby stated, no beating around the bush. I was confused.

"Why? There's nothing bad going on, is there?" I asked.

"No, there's nothing bad going on. There's nothing good _or_ bad going on, that's the problem. Lots of boys have the hots for her, I mean, what's not to like? She's sweet, quiet, witty, comes up with amazing ideas… Well you get the gist." Abby said. I nodded, wondering how on earth we would be able to do it.

"But how would we manage to intervene in her love life? She'll find it out sooner or later." Lina said, her words mirroring my thoughts.

"It's simple. We have to find a guy who's perfect for her. We need someone who's funny, studious, talkative, outgoing, nice, popular too…"

"So, basically we have to find someone who completes her, brings out all the good stuff and is kind of her opposite." I said calculatingly.

"Well, I think it's brilliant!" Abby stated, ruffling both our hair proudly. "Project HOMU is officially in order!"

"Project HOMU?" I asked tentatively.

"Project HOOK OUR MATE UP!" Abby yelled enthusiastically.

"Wait, I thought it was to get her a boyfriend, not a hook-up." Lina asked Abby.

"Same thing, whatever. Now let's get down to business!"

-A+R+S-

"Ok, so, what guys do you think would fill the 'funny, studious, talkative, outgoing, nice, popular' category?" Lina asked us as we sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. We all looked around the three house tables, automatically eliminating Slytherin, obviously. I found nothing.

"Now I understand why she didn't date earlier, there are so little guys in that category. How about—" Abby started, then stopped when a familiar voice sounded behind them.

"Why _who_ doesn't date?" Gracie said suspiciously, and we all turned towards her, guilty expressions on our faces. "You were talking about me, weren't you?"

"We just noticed that you've never really gone out with a guy, so we thought that—" Abby started.

"You thought that you would just nose in, did you? Well, thanks, but no thanks Abby. I think I can decide when I want to date!" Gracie yelled at her best friend then stormed out of the Great Hall angrily. We stared at each other spellbound. None of us had _ever_ seen Gracie angry before.

"Wow." Abby spoke in a whisper then regained her composure quickly. She clapped her hands together. "So, girls, which guy do you think would be good?"

"Leave it Abby." We both said in unison, turning back to our breakfasts. She sighed but gave in, knowing she couldn't do it without our help. Something was definitely up with Gracie; perhaps dating was a sore subject with her?

-A+R+S-

"Wait up Gracie!" I didn't turn as I heard my name from behind me, walking fast towards the Room of Requirement. I broke into a run to get away from the boy that was chasing me and skidded to a halt in front of the blank wall. I walked three times in front of it, thinking the same thing that I had thought for the last five years I had known about the room. _I need a place to think alone… I need a place to think alone… I need a place to think alone…_

I opened my eyes to find that a door had appeared in front of me, and, just as Albus reached the spot where I was standing, I wrenched the door of the Room of Requirement open and scurried fast inside. Albus lunged forward and grasped the door handle from where I had tried to slam it in his face. He opened it slowly and looked around the room where I had disappeared to every time I wanted to cry alone. I flung myself down into a corner and put my head into my hands, trying to conceal the tears that were flowing fast out of my eyes. Al closed the door quietly after him, sat down next to me on the fawn colored rug, and put his arm around my shaking shoulders.

He let me cry myself out on his shoulder, my grief pouring out onto his shirt. When I was done, I looked up at him and wiped my eyes.

"Thanks." I muttered shamefully.

"It's fine." Albus answered. "What's wrong? I saw you storming out of the Great Hall, I thought something was wrong."

"Well," I sniffed. "I kind of, well, overheard my friends talking about setting me up. You know, on a date or something. I got really mad and… Well, it just is too much after second year you know." Al nodded, understanding perfectly. In second year, Gracie's parents had gotten a divorce, they had fought a lot, treated each other badly. Al had found her in this very room crying after getting an official paper. I had told him everything, and he had sympathized. I never wanted to date after that.

"It's ok." Al said again, hugging me, and I hugged him back. Al was the my guy best friend, I could tell him anything.

"Thanks." I breathed into his shirt.

"No problem." He whispered back.

-A+R+S-

I listened to the silence in the dorm room at eleven o'clock, lying flat on my back in my four-poster bed_. Something was definitely up with Gracie_, I thought as I listened to the faint sounds of sobbing from the opposite bed. With it came the sound of the song by Kelly Clarkson Because of You.

_I will not make the same mistakes that you did  
>I Will not let myself cause my heart so much misery<br>I will not break the way you did  
>You fell so hard<br>I've learned the hard way, to never let it get that far_

_Because of you  
>I'll never stray too far from the sidewalk<br>Because of you  
>I learned to play on the safe side<br>So I don't get hurt  
>Because of you<br>I find it hard to trust  
>Not only me, but everyone around me<br>Because of you  
>I am afraid<em>

_I lose my way  
>And it's not too long before you point it out<br>I cannot cry  
>Because I know that's weakness in your eyes<br>I'm forced to fake, a smile, a laugh  
>Every day of my life<br>My heart can't possibly break  
>When it wasn't even whole to start with<em>

_Because of you  
>I'll never stray too far from the sidewalk<br>Because of you  
>I learned to play on the safe side<br>So I don't get hurt  
>Because of you<br>I find it hard to trust  
>Not only me, but everyone around me<br>Because of you  
>I am afraid<em>

_I watched you die  
>I heard you cry<br>Every night in your sleep  
>I was so young<br>You should have known better than to lean on me  
>You never thought of anyone else<br>You just saw your pain  
>And now I cry<br>In the middle of the night  
>For the same damn thing<em>

_Because of you  
>I'll never stray too far from the sidewalk<br>Because of you  
>I learned to play on the safe side<br>So I don't get hurt  
>Because of you<br>I tried my hardest just to forget everything  
>Because of you<br>I don't know how to let anyone else in  
>Because of you<br>I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty  
>Because of you<br>I am afraid_

_Because of you  
>Because of you…<em>


	8. Mystery Girl and Albus

**Author's Note: Hi people! So… I'm updating early this week, but I'll still have my weekend update! So, yeah, enjoy!**

Rose: normal text, Lina: _italics,_ Abby: **bold** Gracie: underlined

**Chapter 9: Mystery Girl and Albus**

"Why does James insist on having Quidditch practice at 5:45 am? Doesn't he understand that most of us want to be asleep at that time?" I said groggily, lifting my head from my pillow, staring unbelievingly at my alarm clock which read 5:19 am, and got up out of bed.

"I don't know, but you better get a move on if you want to make it!" Lina yelled from the shower. I groaned. Stumbling over to my chest of drawers, I pulled out my clean Quidditch uniform and pulled it on. In third year, with persuasion of my cousins (especially James), I tried out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team for the role of Seeker, and won easily. At the beginning of the third year, I took up the role of their 'Secret Weapon', my petite figure not one that many people would envy for Quidditch, but now that people have seen what I am capable for, I am just the 'Weapon'. James was made Quidditch captain during the summer, and ever since he had been making changes, including the practice schedule, therefore the earlier times.

Lina walked out of the bathroom, drying her hair magically as she did so. I scurried into the bathroom she had just exited and closed the door. I turned the faucet on and splashed cold water on my sleepy face, then looked at my reflection in the mirror still fogged up by the steam from Lina's shower.

"_You_ should talk to James!" I yelled out to Lina, not knowing nor caring whether I woke up one of the other girls. "You _are_ his girlfriend, after all!" A grunt sounded outside the door.

"Maybe I enjoy having it at such an early time, just to annoy you!" Lina yelled back.

"Well I don't! Can you two shut up please?" Abby's groggy voice sounded outside the bathroom as I was pulling a brush through my messy locks of hair.

"Love you too, Abs!" I called out as I tugged on a particularly stubborn not of hair, pulling my brush through it at last. An annoyed sound came from Abby's bed as I opened the bathroom and closed the door after me. "We should probably go." I told Lina, looking at the clock which read 5:33. Lina nodded and we walked out of the dorm, sliding down the slide and finding Albus and Scorpius at the bottom of the staircase. They were both on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as well, Lina's fellow Chasers. The Quidditch team was made up of James, Fred, Albus, Scorpius, Lina, Angelina Wood, and I.

"Ok team, I know we may have some complaints about the timing of these practices, but I believe that this time is the best." James announced, dulling the tone by yawning at the end. "Well, what are you waiting for?" We all grabbed our brooms and Fred took the case. When we got out onto the pitch, I made a b-line over to the case, releasing the small golden ball and counting up to twenty before mounting my broom and taking off in search.

I swerved to avoid a bludger that came out of nowhere, James swerving after it, yelling an apology. I waved a hand to show him it was fine. The wind whipping my hair back, I spotted the Snitch next to the goal posts, flattened myself to my broom, and sped up to catch it. Twenty seconds later, I had caught it. I put the Snitch back and practiced my dives, turning sharply every time. I did loops in the air, flying higher and higher every time so my teammates where mere dots flying around the miniscule pitch. I stayed up for there a while, and then one of my friends motioned up to me that it was the end of the practice, and I shot towards the ground fast, dismounting my broom with one elegant motion.

"Smooth." Scorpius said as he dismounted down next to me.

"Wouldn't expect anything else from me, would you?" I asked him with a smirk on my face.

"No, you usually crash." He laughed, and I flushed at the memory he was referring to, when I had flew directly into the commentator's stands toward the offending person, and, in the process, injuring myself more than him.

"_That_ was on purpose, and, in my defense, Aunt Ginny _did_ say it worked." I said huffily, and Scorpius laughed again.

-A+R+S-

"Hey," someone whispered into Lina's ear, and she turned around suddenly to see James behind her.

"James." She breathed back. "You scared me."

"Scared you? I was under the impression that that was impossible." He leaned forward and her lips met his, static spreading throughout her whole body. Though she would never admit it to James for fear that it would expand his already huge ego, the rumor mill was true about this aspect of him: he was an excellent kisser.

"Ugh, really? Can't you two just get a room already?" Albus covered his eyes as he walked into the Quidditch changing room, making a disgusted noise. James broke away from Lina and smirked at younger brother.

"You're just jealous because you don't have a girlfriend." James exclaimed, walking over to Al and ruffling his already messy hair. Al ducked away.

"I'm happy single, thanks." Al said.

"Oh, are you, because from what I heard yesterday, you—" Scorpius started, entering the changing room, smirking at all.

"You can shut up now Scorpius." Al interrupted him, flushing embarrassedly.

"No, but you told me, I have the right to tell!" Scorpius exclaimed, clearly enjoying Al's discomfort.

"I was _drunk_!" Al exclaimed.

"And why was that exactly? Because the girl you like won't date!" Scorpius exclaimed excitably. Lina and James where both staring at Al curiously as he turned a darker shade of red.

**"Shut up."** Albus said through gritted teeth. Scorpius threw his hands up in surrender, still smirking.

"Who do you like, Al?" Rose entered the dressing room looking curiously at her cousin. Albus threw his hands up into the air and exited the room. Scorpius smirked. "Who does he like?"

"I won't tell."

"You gave us some pretty good hints, why not just come clean?" Lina asked.

"I wouldn't really do that to him, just hint at it. He's really serious about her though." Scorpius said seriously. Lina nodded in understand.

-A+R+S-

"So who is the mystery girl?" I asked Scorpius as we walked into Charms.

"What?" he looked confused.

"You know, the girl that Al likes."

"I can't tell you."

"But why—" I started to ask but he slid into the desk next to Al, leaving me to sit with the girls. I sighed and went over to them.

-A+R+S-

Who do you think is the girl that Al likes?

_I don't know, I thought he was happy going stag to everything. I guess not._

Wait, what?

**Someone please fill me in.**

_Oh, didn't you hear, all the best gossip happens in Quidditch dressing rooms._

**TELL ME! ME WANT GOSSIP!**

In the changing room after Quidditch practice, Al walked in on Lina and James kissing. In the conversation, it was discovered that Al likes someone, and, according to Scorp, he's serious about her.

**Oooh, who is it?**

_That's the thing, we don't know._

Why do you need to know? It's his business.

**Oh, it's ok, Gracie. We all know that you have a crush on him, don't worry.**

I don't have a crush on Albus!

It's ok Gracie; she's just teasing you. We know you don't have a crush on him.

**Though by the substantial amount that you blushed when you read that, that might be reconsidered.**

_Hey, you're right!_

I don't have a crush on him; he's practically my brother!

Oh?

_Your brother in what way?_

**Something you're not telling us?**

No, I just meant— it's really nice weather today, isn't it Gabs?

**You're not wiggling your way out of this one, Gracie! I know you're friends, but not close, I thought! You've never even referred to _me_ as you sister, so why is Al so special?**

I'm not telling you, it's none of your business.

Come on Gracie, you know you can trust us. Well, I know you can trust _me._

_I take offense on that._

**We have the right to know; we're your best friends.**

It's private, a family thing.

**Then why did you tell Albus?**

Leave her alone Abigail!

**I have the right to know!**

Ok, you want to know? You want to hear that in second year my parents got a divorce? That they haven't spoken to each other since then? That that's why I don't date? Because they abused each other? That I don't believe in love? **That's** why I think of Albus as a brother, because he was the only one that I have ever told.

Gracie, we didn't want to—

*bell rings*

-A+R+S-

I walked away from the Charms classroom, following Gracie's tracks, wondering why she looked so upset at the end of the class. I finally found her in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, leaned over one of the sinks, staring at her reflection in the cracked mirror. When she heard my footsteps on the tiled floor, she didn't turn.

"What happened Gracie?" I walked up to her so that my reflection was in her mirror as well. She stared blankly at me.

"We were passing notes in class. At first, we were talking about the girl you like, the others wondered who it was." I winced. Soon the whole school would know about it. "Then," she said, and then took a deep breath to continue. "They teased me about me liking you, even though I don't, and I let slip… I let slip that that wasn't possible because you are like a brother to me. They asked why, Abby pushed it, and… I told them. I told them everything." She turned to stare at me, her eyes begging me to tell her that she had done the right thing. I pulled her into a hug, but my ears seemed to be replaying what she had said. _They teased me about me liking you, even though I don't… that wasn't possible because you are like a brother to me…_

"You did the right thing." I whispered into her ear as I hugged her.

-A+R+S-

"Hey Gracie." I looked up at the sound of my name and saw my three friends.

"I'm kind of doing homework." I said dismissively, pointing back at the huge book in my lap. Abby sat down next to me on my bed.

"Screw homework and talk to us!" she said fiercely.

"Abby…" Rose said warningly to my best friend.

"We really didn't mean to hurt you when we asked, you know that right?" Lina asked me cautiously, still standing up.

"It's fine, like Abigail said, you had the right to know." I said sadly, "I should have told you sooner."

"We went about it the wrong way though." Abby said regretfully, looking into my eyes. "I should have been more gentle."

"It's ok guys!" I said forcefully, pulling them all into a group hug. Abby twisted herself out of it.

"There _is_ one more thing I would like to know," she said, holding up her finger for silence. We all groaned. "Did you really mean it when you said it would be impossible to like Al, because if that blush is any pointer, I would say…" she trailed off suggestively. I hit her with my pillow.

"Nothing is going on with me and my feelings or actions with Albus Severus Potter!" I growled at the place where she had toppled out of my curtains.

"Not even one late night crying session became a late night kissing session?" Came her muffled response. I buried my face in my hand in exasperation as the others laughed.


	9. Rumour Has It

**Author's Note: Hi people! This is my weekend update, sorry, I know I told you I'd put it in on Saturday, but things came up. The song that it's named after is one of my favorites of all time, so don't hate please! Hope you like it!**

**P.S. **Scorpius is **bold**, Rose is _italics_, and Albus is underlined.

**Chapter 10: Rumour Has It**

"What are you going to do about the Scorpius problem?" Riley asked Amber while putting her blush on in the bathroom. Amber crossed her arms over her chest and smiled.

"Don't you worry," she said maliciously, applying another coat of lip-gloss and rubbing her pink lips together three times. "I've got it _all_ covered."

-A+R+S-

I slipped into the seat between Al and Scorpius in Transfiguration, ignoring the questioning looks they were throwing me at my ruffled appearance—I had a run in with Frank in the corridor— and took my textbook out of my bag.

Why do you look like you were just pulled through a thorn-bush backwards?

_Let me answer that question with a question. How do you know what it looks like when someone is pulled through a thorn bush backwards?_

Umm… Experience.

_Not even going to ask._

You never answered my question.

_And that is bad because?_

**You were with Longbottom, weren't you?**

Aha! Boyfriend give you a ruff time Rosie?

_Shut up._

**That's gross.**

_And you are pure, are you? How many girls have you slept with again?_

I would go with nineteen in counting.

**Shut up.**

**Wait, how do you even keep count on that?**

I have my ways.

_I don't even want to know._

You really don't.

**Um…**

…

So… 

**Ew.**

_Perv._

Prude.

**Single.**

You just dissed yourself as well as me.

**Whatever.**

_Haha I'm not single._

**Yes, why don't we give you a medal Rosie?**

_That would be quite nice thanks._

Girls are much more complicated than they think.

**Agreement.**

_You two do know that you could have any girls in the school if you wanted them, right? I mean, single girls._

**That's the problem.**

_You like a girl that's with someone?_

**No.**

_I'm confused now._

He means yes but I don't want to tell you.

**NO, I mean no.**

Sure.

_Aw, Scorpy likes a girl. I didn't actually think that that was possible._

**And why not?**

_Because you treat girls like objects that are only used for sex._

…

**THAT'S NOT TRUE!**

_Um, yeah it is._

**No.**

_Yes._

**No.**

_Yes._

**No!**

_Yes!_

**No!**

_Yes!_

Lovers quarrel.

_Shut up Albus._

**Yeah, shut up Albus.**

-A+R+S-

The Great Hall was alive with chatter, people gossiping lightly as they ate their lunch. A group of girls from the Gryffindor table gasped dramatically as their leader, none other than the Queen Bitch, Amber McLaggen, nodded her head and smirked as she filled them in on the gossip. One girl turned and whispered something in her boyfriend's ear, who leaned over to tell his friend. The friend whispered it in the ear of the girl that was seated on his lap, and she scampered off immediately to sit at the Ravenclaw table, inclining her bleached blond head back to where her boyfriend was sitting.

Her friend gathered a group of Ravenclaws near her and told them what her friend had said. One of the girls pretended to swoon and grasped her friend's arm to drag her over to the Hufflepuff table, scream-whispering the news to her friends there. A chocolate haired boy looked rather disgruntled when his two sisters bent over to him to see what was going on. Alice Longbottom squealed as her sister Grace rolled her eyes and returned to her Caesar Salad, the same reaction her brother had had.

Gossip traveled all over the hall as the three house tables, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff traded news as some of Slytherin house eavesdropped, looking rather bored. The teachers looked perplexed on the fast moving student body, wondering what on earth the gossip was about this time. Some of the girls looked like they were about to feint from happiness, wariness, or hope. Giggling filled the hall as the boys looked confusedly on, wondering how on Earth this was so interesting.

As shrieks filled the hall, three students ambled in late. The whole hall went deathly silent, everyone staring at the uncomfortable trio. The three consisted of Albus Potter, Rose Weasley, and Scorpius Malfoy. Every eye in the room was fixed on them.

-A+R+S-

"Why's everyone staring at us?" I said uncomfortably, pulling down the hem of my skirt. The other two shrugged as we made our way slowly towards the silent Gryffindor table, sound gradually returning to the Hall.

"What's going on Gracie?" Al asked her lightly, sitting down on the bench next to her. Gracie shifted uneasily on the bench, her eyes shifting back between Scorpius and me.

"Um… Well… well, the thing is that…" she mumbled incoherently.

"Oh, I understand perfectly now!" I exclaimed sarcastically, looking around at the eyes that were gradually returning to their plates.

"You just missed the best gossip mill in action that there has been in over fifty years!" Lucy said as she passed me, smirking at Scorpius as she did so.

"Spill Gracie." Scorpius said angrily, stabbing his fork into a bitter lettuce leaf.

"Well, McLaggen, she kind of, said some things about what happened at the Halloween dance." Gracie said reluctantly. Scorpius buried his head in his hands and I raised my eyebrow. Lina answered my unspoken question.

"She said that Scorpius was desperate or something. That he wanted to make someone jealous." Al looked at his friend in amazement.

"And you didn't tell me about this because?" he clapped a hand on his best mate's shoulder, half indignant, half surprised. That wasn't what was on my mind, however. The night of the dance came back to me vividly, the night of our row. '_So? Are you jealous, Weasley?'_ He had said that, smirking widely. I had yelled at him.

I shook my head vigorously, ridding the thought from my head. _Scorpius just thinks of me as a friend. He's told me so before._ As people whispered around them, I reminded myself of this fact, pushing away all my instincts that screamed at me for trying to deny the signs. As I looked at Scorpius, I realized that it wasn't at all possible that he likes me. It's like Gracie said about Al, he's like my brother. It's just too weird…


	10. Letters, Revelations and Encounters

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter, I don't think it quite lives up to the last one's standards, it was my favorite by far, that last.**

**team.: Yeah, I know nineteen is big, but you know, he's a player type of guy. Al does know that he likes Gracie, but not that Scorpius likes Rose. Scorpius does know that Al likes Gracie, drunken confidence of Al. **

**haite: Ohmygosh thanks!**

**Chapter 11: Letters, Revelations… and Encounters**

I rubbed my eyes drowsily as I lifted my body out of bed. I got up and looked over into the next bed, which still contained Lina. She was snoring softly and peacefully, a half written letter sitting next to her. I picked it up and read it.

_Dear Mum,_

_God, stuff it so boring back at Hogwarts. You shouldn't seen, at least five guys asked me to the Halloween dance, I felt so sorry for the last one, he was scared to tears, literally. I almost felt sorry enough to accept! Just teasing, I know how you get about that kind of stuff. Yeah, and you know that guy who I have been rejecting for the last four years or so, James Potter? I asked him out on a dare and now I like him and we're going out. Gossip mill is going crazy about something Scorpius said to Amber McLaggen, you know her; the girl I told you seems to have PMS every moment of every day of every month of every year? Anyway, he told her he just took her to the dance to make someone jealous, and she got a little jealous, had to alert the whole school. Damn her. I know who it is though; I swear I'm going to use it on blackmail on Scorp in future. He doesn't know I know that he likes her though. You might know her, her name is _

I stared frustrated at the letter, wondering why on earth Lina had to fall asleep on the revelation of who it was. Damn her. I decided to ask her.

"Oy, sleeping ugly! Wakey wakey!" I said pulling the pillow out from under her head.

"What did you just call me?" Lina grumbled, lifting her head and giving me the glare. I gave her an innocent look and she grabbed her pillow back.

"Hey, I want to ask you something!" I said demandingly, crossing my arms in front of my chest. She sat up in her bed.

"What?"

I brandished the letter at her. "Who were you talking about when you said you knew who Scorpius liked?" Her eyes widened guiltily.

"No one." she said quickly, jumping up from her bed and scurrying into the bathroom, trying to shut the door fast behind her, but I stopped it with my foot.

"Lina, tell me." I said in a dangerous voice, glaring at her.

"No, it's his business." she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Then why do you know? And for that matter, why are you telling your mom?" I said, matching her movement. "He should've told me and Al already."

"So? Are you jealous, Weasley?" She said, smirking. I jerked my head back as if she'd slapped me. _So? Are you jealous, Weasley?_ Scorpius had said it on the night of the dance. Lina took no notice to my sudden movement, but took the opportunity to slam the bathroom door behind her. She still hadn't answered my question. Damn her.

-A+R+S-

I lay in his four-poster bed on his side, thinking about yesterday's events. Damn McLaggen, can't she just keep something to herself for once? Obviously not. Rose hadn't believed his 'I was just trying to get her off my case' excuse, and neither had Al, who was currently trying to talk to him.

"Why won't you tell me who it is Scorp?" Al asked insistently. When I didn't reply he said, "Me and Rosie both know something is up, we won't judge you on who it is. Even," he said with a shudder, "if it's a Slytherin."

"What I told you before is the truth: I just said it to get her off my case." I said, rolling over to lie flat on my mattress, looking up at my hangings. Al snorted from the next bed.

"That's bull shit. If you had wanted to get her off your case, you could have just said 'fuck off', not 'I was just using you to make someone else jealous'."

"Whatever." I said, tired of arguing.

"Is that you admitting?"

"No, that's me telling _you_ to fuck off, Al." I replied without feeling.

"I'm going to get it out of you someday."

"Suuurre…"

"Or maybe I'll just leave it to Rosie and her bat-bogie hexes." Al said casually. I shivered.

"Fine, I'll admit it."

"That you like someone?"

"Yeah."

"Who?"

"I never said I'd tell you that."

"It's times like these when I'm wondering why I'm best mates with you." Al grumbled, and I chuckled good-naturedly.

-A+R+S-

"So Scorpius, what are you going to do now that gossip has sprung and died? Pursue her or get over her?" Lily asked Scorpius at lunch, referring to yesterday's scandal. Scorpius helped himself to mashed potatoes.

"I don't know what you're talking about Lily." He said evenly, stabbing his fork into his food. Lily tut-ed.

"Oh, don't give me that. You know very well what I'm talking about, and it's the fact that about half of the female student body was hoping against hope that the girl you were trying to make jealous is them. So you can tell me who it is, I promise it won't get out." She fluttered her eyelashes is a completely ridiculous way that girls think make guys like them. It's actually quite creepy.

"To hell it won't get out." I snorted, knowing quite well that Lily Potter was just as much of gossip about the school as Amber and Riley were.

"Oh come on. It really doesn't make much difference to who it is, everyone is guessing anyway. Some people even think it's Rose. Imagine that." Lily left grumbling, and I contemplated her words. Some people think they know my secret, do they? Well, they don't have _proof_ even if it is true.

My situation with Rose was about the same as Al's situation with Gracie, both of us guys loved them to death, and both girls couldn't imagine liking them on a higher level than friendship. I made a face palm. My situation was completely hopeless. Why in the world did I have to like Rose anyway? Why was she so adorable? Damn her.

"What's the frustration?" Lina slid in next to me on the bench, and I gave a non-committal shrug in response. She patted my arm comfortingly. "I know. It's hard enough to share a dorm with Rose, and _**I**_ only like her as a friend. It's probably even harder to love her." I choked on my breakfast, did I just hear that? I must have heard it wrong, did she just say—?

"Excuse me, what?" I managed to force out, trying to sound normal. Lina giggled.

"Please Scorp. I've known since third, but I thought you would have gotten over her by now." Lina said calmly. I stared at her blankly.

"But… but what… wait but…" I stammered confusedly as she continued to look on with amusement.

"So… How long have you actually liked her?" she said, scooting closer to me on the bench.

"Since the beginning of second." I said dully, not bothering to lie to make myself sound any less desperate than I was. Lina whistled.

"I guess some rumors strike truth then. You are _very_ desperate." she said pityingly. James walked by the table, and she got up and patted me on the shoulder. "Bye lover boy. Good luck with Rosie. I'll try to help anytime that is possible." She scampered off to sit with James, Fred, and co., planting a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. He put his arm around her, pressing her close to him as they walked along.

I sighed. How I wished that for Rose and I, but Longbottom was in the way of that happening any time soon. I shivered at the thought of what Lina might or might not have meant by 'help'. Whatever it was, it would probably kill me in the process. Well, any girl that liked James Potter was already crazy anyway, that was for certain. Come to think of it, they were a perfect couple, both bonkers. I shook my head and turned back to my eggs.

-A+R+S-

I was still puzzling over the letter from Lina to her father that I read, trying to make sense of it. If Lina had told her father that he _might_ know her, it must mean Lina had only mentioned the girl once or twice to him, so Rose might not know them. I shoved my dinner away and got up from the Gryffindor table, grabbing my bag with me.

I headed towards my dorm, thinking of something along the lines of finding Lina's completed letter and reading who the girl is. I stopped in my tracks. Why was I doing this? Why did I even care who he liked? Lina was right, it's his business, and I would be smart to remember that. Scorpius would tell me when the time was right, I know he would.

I jumped out of my frozen state at the sound of voices. Not knowing what to do, I leaped behind a suit of armor and pressed myself into a corner, hoping not to be seen.

"Crabbe, that's dimwitted, we can't possibly do it. Malfoy has to know that we know who it is, but reflecting her name across the whole great hall is not going to help, we don't even know how to do that." I flattened myself more into the corner, registering Philippe Nott's slimy voice, and hearing what he said about Scorpius. Merlin, does everyone know except for me who it is?

"Fine, you come up with the plan. But you should know Nott, I'm not getting expelled over this." Crabbe said back, showing that he was a tad smarter that his ancestors, even if it was just a tad. He walked away, presumably towards the Slytherin common rooms. Thinking that they were both gone, I sighed in relief. Then, realizing too late that I had just given away my hiding spot, I turned to run, but Nott was barring my way.

"Eavesdropping Weasley?" he asked smoothly, twiddling with wand in his right hand. He stepped closer. "I thought your family was too high and mighty for things like that."

"You can only eavesdrop on people, Nott, and neither you or Crabbe qualify that standard, I would think of you both more like snakes." I said bravely, trying to hide the fear I felt as my eyes flickered from the slowly approaching figure in front of me to the wand held in his hand.

"Tut, tut, where are you manners, Weasel?" he said, stepping so close that his breath touched my ear, making me shiver. He brought his wand up close to my trembling neck. "If you don't start being politer, you might get into trouble one day." Touching my neck lightly with the side of his wand, he drew it back and put in into his pocket, and, humming slightly, disappeared into the shadows, following Crabbe's trail back to his dormitories.

I sighed a breath of relief and ran up the marble staircase, not stopping until I reached the Fat Lady. I gave her the password "Grindylow", and entered the common room. Half my family and friends were sitting waiting for me, and as I entered, Hugo came over and hugged me.

"Where were you?" he asked angrily, and I looked over his shoulder at the clock, which read nine thirty five p.m..

"Sorry," I said to my family and friends. "I got a little held up after dinner."

-A+R+S-

"Sorry," Rose said to all of us. "I got a little held up after dinner." She was pale, and every so often her eyes would flicker around the room and settle back onto us. She looked scared, spooked. I locked eyes with Al, who looked just as worried as I felt. Most of the people in the common room had filtered away, glad that Rose was fine. I walked towards her, enveloping her in my arms.

"What happened?" I spoke gently into her ear, but she pulled away.

"Nothing, I just got lost for a bit." She said then scurried up the girl's dormitory stairs, taking them two at a time. I watched her go, shaking my head in disbelief at her actions. It was so clear that something was wrong that the thought of her trying to convince him of the opposite was comical. Anyway, Rosie, getting lost? What are the chances of that? She knows all the secret passages by heart, knows which nicks and crannies should or should not be avoided like the back of her hand.

"What do you think happened?" Al came up behind me and looked back up at the unmoving staircase where his cousin had just disappeared.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it must be bad. She wouldn't hide it from us otherwise." Al nodded, a worried expression on his face. We both turned and looked at the Fat Lady entrance, wondering what out there had made Rose so terrified.

-A+R+S-

_Dear Mum,_

_God, stuff it so boring back at Hogwarts. You shouldn't seen, at least five guys asked me to the Halloween dance, I felt so sorry for the last one, he was scared to tears, literally. I almost felt sorry enough to accept! Just teasing, I know how you get about that kind of stuff. Yeah, and you know that guy who I have been rejecting for the last four years or so, James Potter? I asked him out on a dare and now I like him and we're going out. Gossip mill is going crazy about something Scorpius said to Amber McLaggen, you know her; the girl I told you seems to have PMS every moment of every day of every month of every year? Anyway, he told her he just took her to the dance to make someone jealous, and she got a little jealous, had to alert the whole school. Damn her. I know who it is though; I swear I'm going to use it on blackmail on Scorp in future. He doesn't know I know that he likes her though. You might know her, her name is Rose Weasley, my best friend, mentioned over fifty times to you. Yeah, her. I have no idea what's going to happen when she finds out though, he's like her best friend. It will certainly make it awkward. _

_Lots of Love,_

_Lina_

_P.S. Now he knows that I know that he likes her._


	11. Secrets and Lies

**Author's Note: So, I know this chapter is early, but I don't really think you mind, do you? Don't worry though, I'm still going to do my weekend update as usual. **

**For my constant reviewer, team.: Thanks for the constant reviews, it makes me happy to go onto my email and get a notification of a new review! Soon you'll find out exactly what 'help' means in Lina's standard, probably next chapter, not this one though! Yeah, that was a mistake in the chapter, I had originally meant for her to be writing to him, but then I looked back on the first chapter and realized that then I had said that he was dead, so... If it were my friend I would die too! **

**Chapter 12: Secrets and Lies**

I lay in my bed listening to the night sounds, hooting of owls and the whooshing of the wind. The encounter with Nott still shook me, even now, a week from it, which was evidently what he was aiming for. _If you don't start being politer, you might get into trouble one day._ His words echoed in my head, sending slight shivers down my body. Was it a threat?

I hadn't even told Lina; for fear that it might get back to Nott. Philippe Nott. The current bane of my existence. At six one, the boy is almost a foot taller than myself. He was not thuggish like his cronies, but slimly built, quite like Scorpius. His hair was as black as his eyes, his features toned. His whole aura about him was scary, mysterious, and creepy. He is the kind of guy you would expect to be following your footsteps in the night, watching you.

I shook my head in disbelief. Since the encounter with him, my eyes had always been alert during any more night wanders, my wand out. I had not spoken to him since, but had many times looked up in a class and found that his eyes were boring into my own, an unknown threat just below their dark surfaces.

I sighed and rolled onto my side. This was helping nothing. I had to get some sleep or everything would just get worse and I would give it away that something is wrong. Well, more than I've already given it away.

-A+R+S-

"Hey Lily, have you noticed anything different about Rose lately?" I asked my sister as she fell into step with me.

"Not really, why?" she asked me.

"I'm kind of worried about her, you know, because of that day she was back late from dinner even though she left it early." I said truthfully. Lily looked thoughtful.

"Well, that is the only odd thing about her I've noticed. She seemed, I don't know, _scared _that day. It is weird Al. I could ask her about it. We share everything." she said and patted my shoulder before making her way back to her chattering group of friends. That was the good thing about Lily. She could be a total gossip and drama queen, but she was the most loyal person you've ever met when it comes to family and friends. Despite what some may think, she can keep a secret _very_ well. This worried me, because, although I had no doubt that Rose would tell her cousin what was going on, I was not certain that Lily would tell me afterward, especially if Rose asked her not to, which she most likely would.

I made my way over to where Scorpius was sitting and shook my head in response to his unspoken question. He turns his head away as I sit down and sighs.

"Rose isn't budging either. Every time I try to bring it up she gets this scared look in her eyes, but she keeps insisting she just got lost."

"Lily said she'd talk to her, but, knowing Lily, she won't tell us even if she gets an answer out of Rose, which is probable."

"Lily doesn't seem the type to keep it from us though, if something is threatening Rose." Scorpius said doubtfully, running his hand through his blond hair.

"If something is threatening her, I'm sure that Lily would tell us." I said confidently, trying to sound more sure than I actually was. True, if something, or someone, was threatening Rose, Lily would probably tell them, but would Rose tell Lily? Something in my mind said no. Rose was the type of girl who would shut people out once things got bad, and she wasn't the type to seek revenge, while all her cousins and friends would. So, basically, if she told Lily nothing, things were very serious.

-A+R+S-

I looked down the dinner table from where I was sitting with my group of friends, who were chattering away. Rose was sitting with the girls, picking at her dinner distastefully while her friends encouraged her to eat it. I got up from my seat, ignoring my friends who continued to chatter, and made my way over to my cousin. She looked up as I came near.

"Hey Lils," she said in a fake cheerful manner.

"I need to talk to you." I said without pre-amble, grabbing her hand and helping her up out of her seat. She looked confused, but didn't protest as we left the Great Hall. I made my way up the many staircases of Hogwarts, Rose's hand still in mine like a small child's in their parent's hand. I reached the landing on the sixth floor, pulling Rose behind me.

"Where are we going? Couldn't you have talked to me in the Great Hall?" Rose whined. Her eyes widened in understanding as we reached the blank stretch of wall outside The Room of Requirement. I walked three times past it, thinking hard on what I wanted there, and a door appeared in the wall. I wrenched it open and pushed Rose inside.

Inside the room, there was two beds facing each other, a rocking chair, and posters on the wall. Rose's mouth dropped open, and I knew why. This room was a combined version of hers and mine from home, half of the posters mine, half hers, same beds, and her old rocking chair.

"Wow." Was all she could manage. I lay down on my bed with my head propped up by my elbow, looking at her as she copied me. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked comfortably, clearly whatever had been bothering her had escaped her mind due to the resemblance of this room to her own.

"What's been going on?" I asked her seriously. Her face fell due to my tone.

"What's been going on where?" she asked me confused.

"I mean last week, when you came back to the common room late." I said, not bothering to accuse her of knowing what I was talking about, it was an overused line. Rose's face, if possible, fell even further.

"I told you all then. I was caught up, got lost." she said, looking away in pretense of scanning the room fondly.

"There are only about five people who believe that story Rosie, and I'm not one of them." I said, leaning over to look at her complexion, which had gone pale again. There was a pregnant pause.

"Nothing happened Lily."

"To hell that nothing happened! Every time someone mentions it, you get scared, I can tell! If you're even lying to me about it, it must be bad." I stood up and began pacing the room, thinking angrily, _I thought she knew better than to lie to me._ Rose stood up too, matching my anger.

"It's none of your business whether something happened or not, Lily! You're not my mother!"

"I'm your cousin, and cousins look out for one another. Anyway, I could easily owl your mother and get her to come up here herself!" I said, stepping closer to her. Something changed in Rose's expression, some kind of wall went down. She collapsed on her old armchair and burst into desperate tear.

"But I don't know what to do Lily! I don't know what to say! I know I'm overreacting, I just... I just..." she continued to sob, I lifted her up and brought her over to her bed, letting her cry into my shoulder as we sat down.

"Shh... It's ok Rosie. It's ok if you just tell me what's wrong." I whispered to her shaking figure. Rose stood up fast.

"No. I can't tell you, it'll make it worse. I just can't..." she looked desperately at me, begging me to understand, and walked past her bed and left the room. I sat on Rose's bed frozen. Rose, strong, dependable Rose, had burst into tears in front of someone. And then, after that, she had still declined to tell me what was wrong, because now I knew for sure that something _had_ happened that night, something bad. I vowed with all my heart that who over had made sweet, dependable, and sensitive Rosie this scared was going to pay someday, and that would not be pretty for them.

-A+R+S-

I woke with a start as early morning light filtered through the hangings in the boys dormitories, my whole body aching from the Quidditch practice yesterday night. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock, groaned and closed my eyes. Then I realized that today I might find out what was really going on with Rose from Lily, and rolled over off my bed, grabbing some clothes and throwing them on.

"Hey Al, get up!" I yelled to my best friend, stamping into the bathroom and brushing my teeth quickly.

"Why so early?" Al grumbled sleepily, lifting his body out of bed.

"Lily always goes down to breakfast early." Al stared at me.

"Stalker much Scorp?" He said disbelievingly. I rolled my eyes.

"She might tell us what happened with Rose, dolt." I said, ruffling my dorm mate's hair. Understanding dawned in Al's green eyes, and he leaped out of bed too. A few minutes later, we were both ready to go down.

As we reached the Gryffindor table for breakfast, Lily looked over to them in surprise. "Up early boys. Didn't think you had it in you." She laughed lightly.

"Actually, we came down to see you. We were wondering what Rose said about that night." Al said, staring his sister in the eye. Lily made a small 'o' with her mouth.

"So what did she say?" I asked impatiently. Lily's eyes took on a guarded look.

"It's all right. She was just overreacting, it's nothing really." Lily said carefully.

"But what did she say happened?" Al asked impatiently.

"It's none of your business. The important thing is," Lily snapped, and paused reluctantly. "The important thing is that she did tell me. It really is no big deal." Lily walked away, holding her shoulders high as usual, confident. I sighed in frustration.

"I knew she wouldn't tell us!" Al exclaimed angrily.

"Yeah," I said, my eyes lingering on Lily's retreating shape. "At least Rose told Lily though. And it's not serious."

-A+R+S-

I don't know why I told Scorpius and Al that she told me. I just wanted to help her. I could tell that whatever was bothering her just got worse as people asked, so maybe... Maybe it would help her to be left alone. Part of me screamed to run back and say that I had been lying, and that she actually hadn't told me, but me and Rose were like sisters, we stick together. It must be the right thing to do. Yes, it must...


	12. Truth or Dare

**Author's Note: This is my valentines day post! Well, I'm just posting on Valentines Day, in the writing it is not Valentines day. Scratch that first bit, this is my post. I hate valentines day. Something about celebrating an anniversary of a bloody massacre with hearts, candy, roses, and balloons is just creepy. Yeah, you heard me right. Valentines day is actually the anniversary of the murder of Saint Valentine. Who knows, maybe he was a ladies man? No, he just converted people to Christianity. Lovely. Just lovely. Now for my chapter! Enjoy!**

Lina is **bold**, Rose is _italics,_ Albus is underlined.

**Chapter 13: Truth or Dare**

**Gryffindor 5th-7th Year Truth or Dare**

**The Room of Requirement**

**NO EXCUSES**

I watched the sign written in black lettering being put up on the Gryffindor message board and smirked. To say the least, I had been behind this. Holding up a small bottle of veritaserum, I examined it, wondering how easy it would be to slip everyone some at dinner. I could sneak down into the kitchen beforehand...

-A+R+S-

Al high-fived me as we saw the sign on the message board, but I felt a bad feeling in my stomach all the while. As we sat down to eat breakfast, I leaned across to speak to Lina.

"Did you help organize the Truth or Dare?" I growled at her. She smirked.

"Well, that would be telling."

"You did, didn't you? Oh no, you're going to... I don't want this Lina!" I leaned back in my chair hopelessly. Al looked over at me.

"What's up?"

"He's just worried I'm going to slip something into his drink and make him tell all the Gryffindors from 5th-7th year that he likes—"

"Very nice day out there, isn't it, perfect Quidditch conditions!" I said loudly over Lina, and she managed to look guilty. Al however, leaned forward in his chair, a look of interest spreading a grin across his face.

"Likes who?"

"I'll tell you later." Lina said, patting his arm.

"You will do no such thing!"

"Oh, yes I will."

"And how is that fair?"  
>"Because you didn't tell me, and so I don't have to be trusted."<p>

"I really hate you."

"Good for you."

-A+R+S-

Who does Scorpius like?

_How would I know?_

Not you, Lina!

**Talking about me?**

Tell me who Scorpius likes!

**No.**

WHY?

**Because it's his business. And hers.**

_Will someone please fill me in?_

No, just catch up. Why only his and hers? It should be me and Rose's too.

**Not you.**

And it is Rose's?

**Depends on how you put the situation.**

That's unfair!

_I'm sorry, did I miss something when I was not there at breakfast?_

**And you were...**

_With—_

Frank.

**You should dump him.**

_Why?  
><em>

**Because he annoys me.**

Yeah, me too.

_U 2 are mean. Frank isn't annoying. He's very nice._

**That is what annoys me.**

Yeah, he's too much of a do-gooder.

_I'm not talking to you two._

**Your loss!**

**Hey, Al, want to figure out who Scorpius likes?**

_WHO DOES SCORPIUS LIKE?_

WHO DOES SCORPIUS LIKE?

**Ha, I knew that would get you back in the conversation.**

You're never going to tell us are you?

**Nope.**

_You're such a bitch._

**Thank you.**

Wait, what?

**I said thank you.**

_You never fail to annoy me._

**Aw, Rosie, that's what best friends are for.**

You know, that's kind of true.

_I hate you both._

-A+R+S-

I looked down the table at Lina as I sat down. She was eating with gusto, but while Rose, Abby, and Gracie were all drinking water as well, Lina hadn't touched her drink. I nudged Al in the shoulder as he picked up his drink. He looked at me questioningly.

"Don't drink that. Lina's spiked them all."

"Why would she do that?" Al asked wary, holding his drink away from him.

"Veritaserum for truth or dare tonight." I responded dejectedly, looking down to the table where everyone was drinking, unknown to the threat.

"Well in that case..." Al said, and lifted the glass to my lips, trying to get me to drink some. I pushed him away.

"Hey!"

"That's what you get for not telling me who you like!" Al said, still trying to force some into my mouth.

"That's my business!"

"I really don't care whose business it is!"

"GET OFF ME!"

-A+R+S-

"You know the rules. Someone asks you to pick truth or dare, you pick truth you have to be honest, dare you have only one chicken. Who wants to start?" James said from the front of the room. A seventh year raised her hand. She pointed to James, and said:

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" James said, a mischievous light coming into his eyes.

"Kiss your girlfriend in front of all of us." She said slyly. James smirked and turned to Lina, pressing his lips to hers. People cheered, and Lina tried to pull back but James held on. A few guys whooped, and Al closed his eyes. Finally James pulled back and Lina hit him across the head, her cheeks flushed. I laughed with the others as James gave me a high five.

I was kind of ashamed to say I was glad that Frank was not part of this little gathering, couldn't go protective boyfriend on me so I wouldn't be able to participate. Dares were passed out openly as I watched my friends and classmates splutter, turn red, and smirk respectively. Soon it was Al's turn.

"Albus, Truth or Dare?" Lina asked, a small smirk on her face. Al held her gaze.

"Truth." I groaned inwardly as he said that. _You've just dug your own grave Al._ I thought ruefully.

"Who do you have a crush on?" Lina asked, her face with a look of expectancy on it. Al took a deep breath, looked around the room, and spotted me. I was sitting next to Scorpius, neither Gracie nor Abby had bothered to come. He looked at us pleadingly, and I looked sideways at Scorpius. Out of his pocket Scorpius pulled a small drawstring bag, and reached inside it. Just as Al opened his mouth to speak, Scorpius, with a quick swish of his wand, threw the powder high into the air above them.

Just as suddenly, the room went pitch black. I felt a strong arm grab onto me, pulling me towards the spot that I knew Al must be.

"Thanks guys." I heard Al's nervous voice sound in front of us.

"Never mind. Let's get out before it goes light again and they restart the game." Scorpius said gruffly as a bundle of swearwords spouted from behind them. I felt myself being dragged by the arm that must belong to Scorpius out of The Room of Requirement. As we closed the door after us, we took off down the empty corridors. We stopped, and Scorpius dragged me and Al into a broom closet, shutting the door after us. Al lit his wand.

"Okay, why did you just drag us into a broom closet exactly? I mean if it was just Rose it would make more sense, but if anyone saw you do that to me..." Al said, trying to make a joke out of the situation. Scorpius silenced him with a glare.

"Al, Rose wants to know who you like, and I need confirmation that is not while your drunk." Scorpius said seriously. I looked at Al too, who was suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"I guess I do owe you two an explanation, after what you did just now." Al said reluctantly, looking back and forth from us. I nodded, and Scorpius snorted. Al took a deep breath. "It all started at the end of second year. I was walking back from the library..."

_*Flashback to Second Year*_

_I walked the empty corridors, grinning about what I had just encountered. Madam Pince really needed to get a life. No chocolate in the library? It's not a bomb, woman, I'm not going burn the library down with it. I laughed and shook my head, climbing up he staircases as I finished the last bite of my chocolate. I didn't exactly know where I was going, just up, I guessed, when I realized what corridor I was walking on. This was the exact same place where Rose had showed Scorpius and I The Room of Requirement in first year. Looking down the corridor, I saw that a normal door in the wall, and it open a crack. As I approached it, I heard the sound of soft sobbing coming from the crack. All mirth gone, I opened the door slightly. _

_Beyond the corridor was a small, plain, room. In the very corner sat a girl with her head buried in her arms, one hand extended delicately, a thin paper clutched in it. Her body was wracked with sobs, and I felt drawn towards her. I opened the door all the way and slipped in silently. Seeming to sense my presence, the small girl lifted her head, and I realized who she was._

"_Are you okay Gracie?" I asked her, wincing at the obvious question. Of course she wasn't okay. Just to confirm my inner conclusion, Gracie shook her head hopelessly. I sat down next to her. "What happened?" I asked, looking questioningly to the paper in her hand. She held it up to show him, collapsing in tears once again. I put one arm around her shaking body and squeezed as I read._

**Official Document**

**Divorce Paper:**

**Cho Valerie Chang**

**Michael Jeffrey Corner**

_ It was... a divorce paper. I wrapped both my arms around Gracie and hugged her. "I knew they were fighting. I could hear them screaming at each other every night as I lay in my bed. On bad nights I could hear crashes too, my father throwing stuff. I would go out after they were gone to bed to find what had been broken and stored all of it in my room. I just got sent this. I just... I don't believe it..." She sobbed harder, and I was at a loss of what to say. Of course I had heard that this happened, but my parents had never fought, had always loved each other. So I just let her cry herself out in my arms..._

_ *End of Flashback*_

"I realized that I liked her as more than a friend at the end of last year. So that's my story." I finished. Scorpius nodded, while Rose looked dumbstruck.

"Gracie." she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "All this time it's been Gracie! I should have seen it so long ago! God, I'm stupid."

"Hey, I only started liking her at the end of last year!" I protested as Rose pounded her head on the wall of the broom closet and Scorpius laughed. Rose stopped to give me a look that plainly said 'Suuuurrreee', and wrenched the door to the closet open. She walked quickly out, slamming the door behind her and not looking back to say:

"You two have fun in there!" I heard from behind the door, and Scorpius made a protesting noise and pushed the handle open after Rose.


	13. Hickeys and Hookups

**Author's Note: I hope you all like this chapter, I am dedicating it to my friend Keely whose birthday was the 17th of February, which was yesterday. 13 years old! Yay! I'm turning 13 five days from now, on the 23, I'll notify you don't worry! One of the quotes down on the 4th page or something that Abby says is from my friend Evie, not the exact quote, but still. If you're reading this, you'll know which one it is. You will too, Maya Fassler. Hehehehehehe... Without further ado, Hickeys and Hook-ups!**

**Chapter 14: Hickeys and Hook-ups**

I lay in my bed looking up at my red and gold hangings. Now that I had made Al tell Rose about liking Gracie, it wouldn't be long before _both_ of them demanded to know who I liked, and what would I tell them? 'Oh, yeah, by the way, the reason I didn't tell you who it is because it's you Rose. Sorry for not telling you sooner'? Um, no. I really don't think that will work.

_But I love her so much._ I thought angrily. I just never had a chance, what with me being a Malfoy and all. You could say that, well, even though I am a Malfoy I am friends with Rose, so I should have hope. Actually, that would work in reverse. I can't just tell her after five years of being best friends that I'm in love with her, and I have been since I was thirteen, now especially since she had a boyfriend.

-A+R+S-

I ran my hands through my unkempt bedhead hair, standing up out of my bed. I had never really got up this early without being at all tired, but I had just woken up suddenly today. Half of my hair seemed to disagree with the other part, because while the back of it was puffing up as though I came out of the musical 'Hairspray', the other parts had a rather alarming variation of curly and straight. I walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face, taking in the slight pallor that had been there since I had woken an hour ago.

I dried my face off as I tried to remember what had woken me so suddenly. I had been dreaming, but then... I growled in frustration. Some dream, but the details were blurry, undefined. A dark corridor... and voices? It was all too unclear.

"Stupid memory." I muttered mutinously.

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness," said a voice at the entrance of the dormitories. I jumped badly and turned around.

"Stop _doing _that!" I whined as a smirking Scorpius Malfoy leaned against the doorway. He pushed off it and I felt self-conscious with my bedraggled appearance as I realized he was already dressed.

"Why give up the chance to see a bunch of hot girls in their pajamas, eh Rosie?" he said roguishly, looking down at my attire. My bare legs shivered in the night's air, and I noticed that all I was wearing was mini shorts and a tank top. I crossed my arms over the low-cut top.

"Why are you even here? Don't guys sleep until the last possible second before breakfast?" I asked skeptically. Scorpius walked leisurely over to my bed and sat down upon it.

"Well, this particular guy couldn't sleep, so he decided to visit you. Anyway, I don't believe that all girls get up at five o'clock in the morning." He countered.

"Touché." I admitted. I sat down next to him on my bed. "I had a bad dream."

"Do tell." He said. I got up and paced, rubbing my temples.

"I _would_, if I could remember." I said in frustration. Scorpius laughed boomingly, and I stopped pacing. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. You just look like a psycho crazy person when you do that." He said, stifling his laugh with his hand. I launched myself at him, bowling him over and pummeling him with my fist.

"Hey—ouch!" Scorpius tried to get free, and I stood up with dignity off him. He mock-brushed himself off, and grinned up at me. "At least I know that some girls can punch as well as I can. You've been taking pointers from you mum, I see."

"It's in my DNA." I giggled appreciatively. Scorpius stood up from my bed and stuck his hands in his pockets. I walked over to him and grabbed his arm. "Okay, out. I have to change and shower."

"So how come I can't stay?"

"OUT, NOW!"

-A+R+S-

Abby was still grumbling about me waking them all up as we walked down to breakfast. I rolled my eyes as she continued to go on about her "beauty sleep" and how important it was. As we passed the Ravenclaw table, she stopped mid-sentence as a hot guy winked at her. She smiled back after a second, and continued on with us in silence. After we had sat down at our table, we all turned to her excitedly.

"What was that?" I asked her hurriedly, leaning towards her. She didn't blush.

"Oh, Ryan Turner? We've spoken a two times. He's a year older than us, and _hot._" Abby said, pretending to fan herself.

"Spoken? Hmph!" Gracie snorted, and Lina raised one eyebrow slowly.

"Well," Abby smirked. "We spoke the _first_ time." Lina's eyes popped nearly out of her head. She leaned in and said seriously:

"What did you do Abby?" Abby waved her off with her hand.

"I didn't do _that_. No, we just made out." Lina sighed in relief and leaned back.

"Me and Gracie have both still got the big V, what about you two?" Abby said boldly. Lina looked down the table nervously, but it was still mostly empty.

"Of course we still have them. We're both still 15!" I exclaimed surprised.

"You both have boyfriends." Abby said, shrugging. "And _they've_ probably done lots of girls before, since they're both older than you." She added innocently. I flipped her off silently and she giggled.

"Anyway," Lina said, clapping her hands together and changing the subject. "What are you guys doing for winter break? It's in only a few days."

"I'm going to stay here." Gracie said quietly. Abby put her arm around her comfortingly.

"I'll stay with you."

"I'm going back to my place with Al, James, Lily, and Scorp. They're all staying with us." I said, then turning to Lina. "I was wondering if you would come with us."

"I'd love to, I just have to owl my mum. I was going to stay at Hogwarts anyway; it won't be a problem." Lina replied, pressing her hands together in excitement.

"Not forgetting anyone, are you?" Abby said in mock hurt.

"Sorry guys, I was going to invite you, but my mum said it was too many people. Lily will be sharing a room with me and Lina already." I said apologetically.

"It's no problem. I hear that Hogwarts is really pretty on the holidays anyway." Gracie replied, waving the apology off. By this time the Gryffindor table was filled to the brim, and class was starting in ten minutes. We all got up and grabbed our bags and set off to class early.

-A+R+S-

I waited outside the open doorway to the seventh year boy's dormitories, twiddling with the split ends to my long blond hair. I sighed and checked my watch, wondering how long he would be. When I made my way out of my dormitory five minutes ago, I found a note outside that said:

_Meet me outside my dormitory at 7:00. -J_

It was now 7:01, and was it just me being a needy girlfriend, or was he late? Just as I concluded that I was being a overly needy girlfriend, I felt a pair of soft hands go over my eyes. I yelped, and heard James' deep booming laugh. I dislodged his hands by grabbing them in my own, then I spun around to face him, dropping his hands and crossing my arms in front of my chest in mock-annoyance.

"What did you want to tell me?" I asked.

"I never said I wanted to tell you anything, I just said to meet me." He said, kissing me. I kissed back reluctantly, then pulled back, pointing my finger accusingly at him.

"You just asked me to come to take advantage, didn't you?"

"Absolutely." James said unabashedly, then pressed me up against the wall and kissed me.

"_James."_ I whined.

"_Lina._" he mimicked my voice. I laughed, and let him kiss me. _James Potter needed to learn some self-control. Well, at least in public areas._ I added as Fred Weasley, Rose's cousin, walked by smirking as he cast a sideways glance at us. I groaned. When I finally got free, I tried to compose myself and bid goodbye to James. I would have a lot of explaining to do when I got back to the dormitories, I thought. Surprisingly enough, the only girls that were there were Gracie, Amber, and Riley.

"Where are all the others?" I asked Gracie. She shrugged.

"I think they're both off doing what you just finished." she said, and added casually. "Your shirt is halfway unbuttoned by the way." At that comment, I most likely turned every shade of red or pink in the rainbow. Well, not in the rainbow, that's only one shade, but the whole range of colors.

"Yeah," I said ashamedly as I began to re-button by tank top. She sat down on her bed and looked at me critically. My ears burned from embarrassment. The awkward silence didn't last long, however, because Abby came into the dormitory right then. I could vividly imagine what had happened to her, just according to her appearance. There was a massive hickey on her lower neck, her hair was mussed, far from the usual silky waves, her lips were big and swollen, and her whole face was flushed with excitement.

"Getting to know Ryan Turner more, are you Abby?" Gracie smirked.

"Yes I was in fact. He's a very delightful person to know." Abby said.

"Clearly." Gracie commented, eying her best friend's hickey in distaste. Abby pointed an accusatory finger at Gracie.

"Just because you won't let me set you up with the perfect guy, Gracie, doesn't mean it'll never happen to you."

"What, make out with a random guy and let him feel you up, too? I don't think so." Gracie said disdainfully as Abby pulled up her shirt to hide the cleavage she had been displaying to the world before.

"Well, maybe not _that._ But someday you'll have a boyfriend or husband or something, and you'll turn up with hickeys and stuff. Then I'll say I told you so." Abby said as she looked in the mirror, reapplying her makeup. She turned her gaze to me, and took in my appearance.

"So, have you and James been on any dates yet?" she asked, and I opened my mouth to respond, but she added with a smirk: "I mean, besides the ones in broom closets." I want to curl up in a hole and die. Please let me...

"I'm just going to die now." I said in mortification.

"I kind of had to say that." Abby smirked. I buried my head in my hands as both my friends smirked. _Kill me now._ I thought.

-A+R+S-

I knotted my hands into Frank's hair as he kissed my neck, pressed up against the wall. He moved back to my mouth, kissing it passionately. Damn, he was really good at this. I thought as he kissed me. Not that I hadn't already known that, but it just reminded me of how he was much older than me, much more experienced in things of this nature. What Abby had said was true; he probably had done many girls before me, and would probably do many more after me.

_After me. _The thought struck my mind. I had never really questioned the fact that there would be an _after me_, that we wouldn't last as a couple. It was something about the both of us, me the daring pranker who was best friends with the two most popular guys in the school, he the gorgeous heartthrob that all girls wanted to date. My friends would say that we didn't have chemistry, but I knew that we did, we just… Lets not think about that now.

"I have to go Rosie, sorry, I have a patrol." Frank said as he broke the kiss.

"That's okay. Have fun." I said lightly, kissing him on the cheek. He rolled his eyes as if to say 'As if', waved a hand in farewell, and walked away. I shook my head as he broke into a sprint, showing off his boyish innocence that hid beneath the seriousness. I turned, ready to go back up to Gryffindor tower to my friends who were probably making up some story about how me and Frank were having a love affair in a distant broom closet, when I heard another voice behind me.

"Your fun with lover boy over already? I thought you would stand there forever." Philippe Nott strutted out of the shadows where he had been lurking. My blood turned to ice, but I faced him bravely.

"You know, Nott, right now people just think you are a son of a famous death eater, and a vindictive, spoiled little rich creeper. Let us not add stalker to your resume as well."

"Well, stalking is always the most fun Rosie, and even though it's not part of my resume, everyone knows I am one too." Nott said, twiddling his wand in his hands. I eyed it.

"Why did you have to choose _me?_" I muttered under my breath.

"Rose, I'm touched by how much you like me, truly." Nott said, putting his hand over his heart with a smirk on his face.

"How many more times are you going to do this before you lose interest?" I asked mock-curiously.

"I think we'll be seeing a lot of each other until I leave at the end of next year Rose, get used to it."

"Chose someone else, I'm boring."

"You're actually far from it, and I think if you avoided me, I would find _other_ ways to keep in touch." He said as he melted back into the darkness. Well… I didn't like the way he said 'other' so I don't think I'll be avoiding him anytime soon, but I vowed that I would not let it bother me. That's what he wants. So I ran up the staircase to the Gryffindor common room(two stairs at a time for good measure) and headed through the portrait hole. Everything was going to be alright.

When I got up to the girl's dormitories I would act like nothing had happened since I had parted with Frank, and that's exactly what I did. I arrived when the girls were teasing Lina, and I just joined in, laughing as if I had not just had someone announce to me that they were about to become my stalker. Because, in my mind, no one had, and if no one had, then the fuss was for nothing.

Fuss. Such a silly word. Such a silly assumption that Rose made. Everything was going to be alright? Phoey. This was not something to be fussed over without reason, it was going to get worse… and Rose damn well knew it.


	14. Ice Cold Surprise

**Author's Note: So, one day until my birthday! It's the 22st of February now, I'm SOO excited. At the beginning of the chapter, you might be wondering why I always have Rose splash water on her face instead of taking a shower. Well, the answer is simple. I never take a shower in the morning because I take _way_ too long and end up being late for school, some I'm channeling some inner-Senta into Rose Weasley(yes, my name is actually Senta). Oh, yeah, I'm also channeling myself into her because her birthday is going to be the same day as mine, and Abby's as my best friend Keely's, and Lina's as my other old friend Ryan's… Call me self-centered, but that's what I do.**

**team.: You think? Sorry, was it the last part? Well, you'll be seeing a lot more of him for a long time, but I'll try to make it less scary. I have plans for him, I'm not making it like that for no reason.**

**P.S. I'm not turning 16, I'm turning 13.**

**Chapter 15: Ice Cold Surprise**

I woke out of my bed on December 17th in a haze, not really registering what day it was until I checked my clock. I squealed in delight, jumping out of my bed in my pajamas and running across the room and into the bathroom, where I splashed cold water on my face. Looking into the mirror, my bright fawn-colored eyes glinted back at me excitedly, anticipating the first day of the winter break.

Today was the day I would be leaving on the Hogwarts Express and going home for the first time in three months and a bit. Everyone was staying there, Lily, Al, James, Lina… Christmas was a rather large affair at the Potter/Weasley clan, and I was excited to find out what the new year would bring. Also, a few months after Christmas time was my birthday, which took place on the 23 of February, on which I would be turning 16 years old! It was rather odd how Lina, Abby, and I had birthdays with more or less six days between each, and Gracie was only thirteen days after Lina's. Maybe, along with our mutual dislike of Queen Bitch McLaggen and her faithful sidekick Riley, this is what brought us together.

I turned the handle of the bathroom door and looked around our dormant room. How easy it would be to knock over the pitcher of water onto Amber's sleeping form and make it look like an accident? Just as I lifted my wand and began to levitate the pitcher over her bed, I heard a movement behind me. Turning my head around sharply, my wand twitched, and the whole pitcher of water turned upside down in the air to empty it's contents on a drowsing Amber's head.

The screams that followed were monumental, and I hastily dropped the pitcher to the floor as gently as I could, just so it would _look_ as accidental as it had actually sort of been. Shoving my wand back into my pocket, I looked for the source of the noise I had heard earlier, but it was just Gracie's pet owl Hermes who was now ruffling his wings in disgust as he watched the spectacle. The other girls were definitely up now, I dully noted, but then again, a sound similar to a loud car siren was now echoing through the dorm-room.

"Wus goin' on?" said a drowsy Abby as she lifted her head from her pillow. Lifting herself up on her elbows, she surveyed the scene: a soaked to the bone McLaggen sitting up in bed letting out wail after wail, and a guilty looking me standing, still in pajamas, in the middle of the room. Seeming to figure out what was going on, she pointed an accusatory finger at me, then, as if she was too tired to say anything more on the matter, sank back onto her pillows and covered her head with a sheet.

Lina and Gracie were a different matter, and where-as Gracie laughed heartily over Amber's fall to shame, Lina looked her digital clock, realized the date, and jumped up and down excitedly. Eventually, after having her fair share of giggling, Gracie told Amber to shut up and dry herself off.

Amber stared at Gracie, shock written all over her damp face, and ice cube sliding down her hair, as if to confirm the fact that she was crazy as hell. In a voice as hushed as a mouse squeaking, McLaggen said:

"You're telling me to shut up? Me? The most popular girl in your year? You really should get your priorities straight you thoughtless prude!" Silence issued through the room as Abby lifted her head, anger painted all across her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but Gracie beat her to it.

"I'm not a prude, and even if I was, it would be better than being an easy slag!"

"You're not a prude, are you? Okay, if you're not a prude, tell me the name of one guy in the school that you've kissed!" Amber screeched at her.

"Albus Potter." Gracie said in a quiet voice. The room fell deathly silent, Riley's mouth hanging open, Amber's expression that of disbelief. My own mouth was hanging open. Gracie had kissed Al? Gracie, who Al fancied? Gracie, who never wanted to date? Gracie, who had, weeks earlier, said that she and Al could never happen because they were like siblings?

"You're lying." Amber said in a croak, and she composed herself again. She pointed a shaking finger at Gracie, "You awful bitch, YOU'RE LYING!" With that, she stormed out into the bathroom, Riley following her.

"Well, that went over well, didn't it?" Gracie said, falling back onto her bed with an annoyed huff. She looked over to us and put her hand to her face and let out a sigh.

"I guess I owe you three an explanation too." Abby was the first to recover.

"Damn well right you do! I thought you said that no late night crying sessions turned into kissing sessions!" Abby said, sitting down next to her. Lina recovered too, but I just stood there staring at her. Gracie looked at me lost.

"Rosie, I can explain…" she said desperately.

"You kissed Al…" I said quietly.

"It wasn't like we were actually… No, Rose, it was just…" Gracie said, putting her head in her hands. Everyone stared at her confused, and she sighed in resignation. "It was over the summer, you know that party that you invited me to over the summer, you know, Freddie's birthday? Well, you might remember that Al was dead smashed. Like… really drunk. I had had a few drinks too, so…" Gracie said, screwing her face up so her friends had no doubt what she meant. I groaned and put my head in my hands. "It didn't mean anything, I even doubt he remembers. We never talked about it." She shrugged, waiting for my reaction. My head snapped up to look at her angrily.

"You can't just throw his name in when someone asks you who you've kissed, Gracie! You do realize what's going to happen now, don't you?" I said standing over her, my voice raising to a yell. "SHE'S GOING TO TELL EVERYONE! JUST LIKE SHE DID TO SCORPIUS! AND YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THIS MIGHT MEAN TO AL ANYWAY!" I yelled, breathing heavily. Lina touched my arm.

"Rosie calm down." Lina said soothingly.

"And about the whole, telling everyone thing." Abby said with the trace of a smirk on her face. "I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon." I calmed down enough to give Abby a questioning look.

"Explain." I said flatly.

"Well, I happen to have _very_ popular, uh, _correspondents._" Abigail started, and by the way she said 'correspondents', we all knew that somehow translated to 'snog buddies' or rather 'Ryan Turner'. "And I happened to mention to one of them after the subject of the rumor about Scorpius came up that, since Scorp was taken with Mystery Girl, Amber McLaggen had moved on to his best friend…" She trailed off smirking, and we all widened our eyes at that.

"You. Did. Not." I said gloriously, completely forgetting the case at hand.

"Oh, _I did_. Anyway, not too long after that began circulating, Amber caught wind of it, and, well… Let's just say, if she spread a rumor about Al as well, she would be a laughingstock." I doubled over laughing, and just at that moment Amber decided to walk back into the room, now very dry and fully dressed. She flushed at the sight of me laughing and stormed out of the girl's dormitories, Riley behind her. I looked at Gracie, my laughter dying quickly in my throat. Her eyes pleaded with me.

"I'm sorry Rosie, I really am." Continuing, she added desperately. "The reason I said Al is because, well, he's the only one I _could_ shut her up with…" I gawked at her.

"You mean to say that Al's was you first and only kiss you've ever had?" I asked Gracie breathlessly. Gracie blushed deep scarlet color, and gave a small nod. I did a face palm, shaking my head in disbelief as I realized how much this would matter to Albus if he found out, assuming he had forgotten that night due to alcohol.

"I know, I know!" Gracie said over Abby and Lina's giggling. "I'm kind of behind, but you know me. I don't really want to date yet." Abby, Lina, and me turned to her in surprise. "Why are you all staring at me like that?" Gracie asked uncomfortably under our gazes.

"I remember it used to be 'I don't want to date.', where did 'really' and 'yet' come from?" Abby asked, stifling her giggling with her hands.

"Circumstances have changed slightly." Gracie said with the trace of a smile on her pretty face.

"I'm sure you'll tell us all about it when you're ready," I said.

"I'm sure I will." Was all Gracie said.

-A+R+S-

I dragged my trunk behind me as I walked through the corridors of the Hogwarts Express, Lina behind me. At last I spotted the compartment that I had been looking for, the one where Scorpius, Al, James, Lily, Roxanne, Fred, Hugo, Louis, and Dominique were sitting. I opened the door and held it for Lina as she scooted in after me. Settling in a seat across from Lily, I set my trunk at my feet and looked around the crowded compartment.

"How are we going to fit all of you at the Burrow?" I wondered out loud, taking in everyone's faces. Lina sat down in the unoccupied seat by James, and thankfully James didn't try to kiss her.

"Well," Lily said, looking around the compartment. "You, Lina, and I are sharing your room, Al and Scorpius are sharing with Hugo, James and Fred are in one of the extra rooms, but I don't know where Domi and Roxi are."

"You two could share with me and James, Roxi." Fred said with a smirk.

"No thanks!" Roxi exclaimed. "My mum said that we were sharing with Rose, Lil, and Lina if they have enough space."

"We probably do." I said doubtfully, thinking of my small room. Dominique flicked the bangs from her ponytail out of her face.

"Fleur said that Ron was going to put a stretching charm on your room, Rose, so I wouldn't be too worried." she said. I nodded, and Hugo pouted.

"How come all the girls get to dorm together?" he asked James. James ruffled his younger cousin's short ginger hair.

"It's 'cause the girls are going to be having a slumber party the whole time, Hu. Us guys don't enjoy that as much." James said fondly, and Hugo sat taller, smirking at the girls. I rolled my eyes.

"There might be an extra room anyway, Domi." I added to Dominique. "You know the Burrow, it's huge." Dominique nodded. Apart from Lina, the only person that was not in the family that was coming was Scorpius. You would think that having Scorpius around the Potter/Weasleys would be very awkward and almost not possible, but it was actually okay. Almost everyone in the family accepted him, all except my dad, and, well, he was _my dad._ You couldn't really expect that much of him. I remembered the first time Al had brought Scorpius to the Burrow with a smile.

_*Flashback to First year*_

_ I rode the train home next to Lina, twiddling nervously with my hair. Al slapped my hand down from it as I broke a piece off. "Calm down Rosie, no one's going to **kill** him!" He said, looking annoyed. _

_ "But what if my father—" I started._

_ "Then we'll bring back a memory, Rosie, not a dead body." Al smirked, and Scorpius joined him. I shook my head in disgust._

_ "I think **you **should at least be worried! I mean, right now we're talking about how likely it is for you to survive this trip or not." I said, gesturing to Scorp._

_ "Calm down Rosie, you know I like a challenge." Scorpius said patronizingly, and I scowled at him as the train pulled up into the station._

_ "Don't say I didn't warn you." I said, getting up from my seat to leave the compartment, pulling my trunk behind me._

_ "They're not going to kill **me, **are they?" Lina asked jokingly._

_ "Nah, my dad won't care, he doesn't know your family," I said darkly. I jumped off the train, Lina following me, and swung our trunks down after me, setting them back on the ground. I craned my neck to find our family through the smoke, excitement drilling through me. I spotted my father's orange hair a few meters away and beckoned Lina after me. I ran towards them, somewhat lopsided due to the trunk, and pushed my way through the crowd. _

_ I ran into my mother's arms first, then hugged my dad. "I missed you!" I said to them, then tried to hug Hugo, who ducked away from me. Lina caught up to me and looked up to my parents, her eyes wide. "This is my best friend Lina, we share a dorm." I introduced her. She shook my parent's hands. My dad craned his head to look through the crowd._

_ "Where's Al and the others? He said he was bringing a friend with him, but never mentioned who." Ron said, and my face fell._

_ "Wait, he didn't tell you who it was?" I asked, dreading the answer. My parents both shook their heads, but Hugo nodded, smirking. "Well, this might come as a shock to you but—" I started reluctantly, but then heard Al's cheerful voice through the crowd. _

_ "Hi!" Al said, walking towards them, Scorpius next to him. My dad's mouth dropped about a foot. My mother's eyes widened, but she smiled as usual. Al walked toward us, grinning as usual. "This is me and Rosie's friend, Scorpius. Scorpius, this is Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron."_

_ "Hi Scorpius, and you're a—?" My mother said inquiringly._

_ "Malfoy." Scorpius said pleasantly, his eyes drifting from my father's startled face to my mother's welcoming one._

_ "Rosie can I talk to you?" Dad said to me, and I nodded nervously as he pulled me behind a pillar. "I thought I told you not to mingle with that boy Rose, I thought I told you to steer clear of him. I told you not to get too friendly with him!" my father said angrily, and I mustered up the courage to speak._

_ "You said that in the terms of "more than friends", and I can tell you this dad, I don't plan on marrying him anytime soon."_

_ *End of Flashback*_

I smiled at this memory as the train pulled into the station, pulling myself up from my seat as Scorpius offered me a hand. I grabbed my trunk and walked out chatting with Lina.

"So, why again aren't your cousins Molly and Lucy coming?" Lina asked me as we got off the train. I made a face.

"Because they apparently have to get ready for O.W.L.s," I said, screwing up my face in annoyance. "I don't see any loss though. Also, Percy and Audrey are gone on some Ministry business trip." Lina laughed at my disdain of the two fifth year twins. As we reached my family members, greetings were exchanged, and both girls were enveloped in a series of hugs. I spotted Scorpius hugging Teddy, and I greeted Victoire with her usual two kisses on the cheeks. We set off to the Burrow, and soon I would see my home again! What more could happen?


	15. Gnomes and Proposals

**Author's Note: Hey people! So, if you're wondering, I'm posting like once a day because I'm off school this week, Presidents Week. And, another thing: IT'S MY THIRTEENTH BIRTHDAY! Are you happy for me? Please be happy for me! Yay i'm so excited! I'm thirteen! I'm a teen! Yay! **

**mixenucrbyvt: Well, basically Rose is glad that James doesn't try to kiss his girlfriend, Lina, her best friend. So, basically, Lina. Sorry, I know you asked me to private message you, but I don't, um, really know how. Hope that answered your question! So, without further ado, GNOMES AND PROPOSALS!**

**Chapter 16: Gnomes and Proposals**

I looked out of my bloated bedroom through the window, taking in the beautiful sight of the snow covering the Weasley garden, a few brave gnomes poking their ugly heads out of the old Wellington boots. Today was Christmas Day, the day when us children would be receiving presents, but I couldn't bring myself to go downstairs right now. The garden was like the picture off a Christmas card, snow coating all the surfaces so that they sparkled gorgeously. The crooked house had icicles hanging down from the edges, water sliding down their glossy sides and dripping down from the sharp points to collect on the ground.

I got up from the window seat in my room, and walked between the beds, careful not to wake any of the other girls, and sat back down onto my bed. I surveyed my room ,taking in every poster and edge. I smiled as my eyes drifted over the black spot on my wall, taking in the memory that lay there. This room once belonged to my Aunt Ginny, and she had told me what had happened there.

_ "Ginny, what happened there?" I asked my aunt as we looked at my newly designed room, the posters that had just been posted to my wall. She smiled._

_ "When I was about your age, your Uncle George and his brother Fred had given me a small box for my ninth birthday, and they dared me to pull the string in the middle of my room. Turned out the box contained a "portable firework" and it went off and bounced off that wall before mum and dad interfered."_

A memory similar to that one, there was a huge dent in the wall from the first summer that Scorpius had come over, second year. We had been in my room, and he had been opening presents from his birthday, which was August 27, right before Hogwarts goes back. I had opened the door into my room just when I heard a boom come from it. There stood Scorpius with hair blown back, an open package in his hand from James and Freddie. "I thought it was just a present." he had muttered, and I had laughed, examining the dent in the wall. "Never assume anything with James and Fred." I had giggled, pulling a piece of lint out of his blond hair.

Lily stirred, and sat up on her bed. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and took in the quiet room. As it had turned out, a stretching charm had been placed on Rose's room, and all the girls save Victoire, who shared with her boyfriend Teddy Lupin, were placed in Rose's room. Lily widened her eyes as she checked the alarm clock, then squealed and leaped up, waking Roxanne, who was in the bed next to her.

"HEY!" Roxi said in annoyance, leaping up out of bed to confront the person who had woken her.

"It's Christmas Day Roxi!" Lily shrieked excitedly, dodging the pillow being thrown at her. Roxi grumbled and sank back onto her pillows, and Lily turned to me. "Isn't it wonderful, Rosie? Aren't you so excited to open presents? I'm excited!" She said, jumping around the room in a hyper kiddish excitement. I laughed and looked around at Dominique and Lina, who were getting out of bed with the same look of anticipation in their eyes. Roxi kept grumbling, but got up too.

For the whole day everyone helped to cook and prepare for the night, when the family plus Scorpius and Lina would open presents. Scorpius, Al, Lina, and I were sent out into the garden to de-gnome it, the only enjoyable task at the moment. Fred, James, and Uncle George were already out there. Scorpius grabbed a gnome by it's dirty feet and held in up in front of me.

"This would look rather spiffing on the top of the tree, wouldn't it?" he asked me in a fake posh accent. I wrinkled my nose, but before I could reply George cut me off with a booming laugh.

"I remember Ginny did that one Christmas, put it in a tutu and all. Maybe we should make it a tradition!" he joked, and I stunned the gnome in Scorpius' hand.

"If so, you should leave the clothes up to Lina and I. We could even give it a bath! I wonder what it would be like to give a gnome a makeover," I said to Lina, smirks on both of our faces, and it was the boys turn to wrinkle their noses, muttering something that sounded like 'girls...'

-A+R+S-

"Oh, that's just gross!" Lina said from the bathroom where Roxi was standing giggling over something in the sink.

"What's up?" I asked, going over there and peering over to see what they were looking at, Dominique and Lily following me. I looked over their shoulders and nausea hit my throat.

"Eww..." Lily said as she fell back on her feet from standing on her toes to see what was going on, now wishing she hadn't. Only Dominique seemed to not be grossed out.

"Well, I guess it's a guy then." she said cheerfully, and I turned to her in disgust. She shrugged. Roxi kept giggling.

"How do you think they reproduce then?" She managed to get out between giggles.

"I'd rather not know." I said in disgust. "We'd better get some underwear on that thing." Over the next few hours, the girls washed the gnome, brushed it's ugly teeth, conjured hair, and performed plastic surgery, literally. After that, they shrunk some old clothes that they didn't want and dressed the doll, then applied the makeup. After they were done, they stood back and admired their work.

"I think we did a pretty good job." I said, brushing my hands off as I gazed at the unhappy gnome dressed in a white dress and a pair a fake angel wings. Roxi snorted.

"I'm never going to like it," she declared. "You want to know why? Because it's wearing my underpants." The others giggled, and Roxi even cracked a smile as she shook her head at the gnome.

"Well, I guess it'll be fine." Domi said, shaking her head at the gnome who was scowling at her from her perch on the sink. She flicked her wand—she was the only one of us that was allowed to use her wand because she was seventeen— and the gnome was smiling again. Lily ran from the other side of the room with something clutched in her hand.

"Here, the last touch!" she said, gluing a small halo onto the gnome's head. We all laughed at the gnome as it's fake smile trembled, and Lily grabbed it as we all went downstairs. The tree was being erected by Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny's wands as we got to the living room.

"There you girls are, I was wondering where you had got to!" My mum said to us, and, looking at the gnome in our hands, smiled. "I see you've found an angel for the tree!"

"Yeah, it was really dirty, so we cleaned it up," Dominique said, smirking with us. Ginny looked between us and the "angel" and began laughing. Ron and Hermione looked confused, but Harry soon caught on, and he began grinning too.

"Am I missing something?" Ron asked his best friend and sister, scratching his head. At that moment, George walked in with the boys and caught sight of the gnome.

"Ah, girls, you managed to make it look rather pretty," he said, trying to make a straight face, then turned to Ginny. "A feat that even you didn't attempt." Ron looked between the siblings, then to the gnome, and burst out laughing too. Only mum was still looking very confused, then she turned to us.

"Do I want to know?" she asked us tiredly.

"Probably not." I said, managing to keep a straight face somehow as Dominique floated the gnome through the air to rest on top of the tree. Scorpius and Al came up next to me, staring at the figurine.

"You certainly meant it when you said a makeover," Scorpius said disgustedly. "Out of interest, was it really a girl gnome?"

"No, it was a guy." I said, smirking at him, and he covered his eyes in shame for the guy gnome. "Hey, look on the bright side. He probably got more handling from girls that most guys will ever get in a lifetime." I smirked, and both guys turned bright red, and I smirked wider. Neither of them liked talking about _that_ with me, ever.

-A+R+S-

"Why don't you see what's in this?" Al said innocently handing me a present. I groaned as I saw that it was from Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey. As I ripped back the paper, I saw a book entitled 'The Witches Guide to Becoming a Hogwarts Prefect', with a note. I read the note and groaned louder, tossing the book aside with power. Scorpius was near where it fell, and he leaned over to see what it was called, then laughed.

"Your uncle still hoping you become prefect, Rosie?" he asked.

"Not another word from you!" I said threateningly as Uncle George and my father burst out laughing too. Even my mum managed a smile, though she herself had been disappointed when I hadn't gotten my letter. I looked to see who would get the next present. Victoire reached for the tree and grabbed a small package from under it, and in that moment, Teddy tensed.

"It's from you." Victoire said to Teddy, opening the wrappings carefully. I held my breath as she unwrapped it and popped the jewelry case open to reveal what was inside. Victoire gasped as she revealed a pair of beautiful glass earrings and took them out of the case. She put them on and kissed Teddy, not on both cheeks mind you.

"I love them!" Vic exclaimed to her boyfriend, standing up and twirling around so that they glinted in light. When Victoire's back was turned, Teddy pulled another box from his pants pocket. "I love them Teddy!" she exclaimed again.

"I actually bought them to match this," Ted said, opening the box he was holding and getting down onto a knee. I gasped along with Lina as we saw the thing that was in it. Inside the box was an engagement ring. "Victoire Weasley, will you marry me?" Teddy asked, his eyes fixed on the girl in front of him.

"Oiu je le ferai! Yes, I will!" Victoire cried, throwing her arms around her new fiancé. All the girls 'Aww'ed as the couple kissed, while the guys looked away, though they didn't groan as they usually did. Teddy slid the ring onto Victoire's finger and then pulled back, and the whole room went forward to congratulate them. After I hugged Victoire I stood back with Lina, watching the clamor.

"Do you think that'll ever happen to us?" I asked Lina, referring to the happiness that both people in the center of the room felt. Lina cast a disbelieving glance to her.

"Well, at the rate you're at with Longbottom, it'll happen for you by the end of this year." Lina said, and I snorted.

"Speak for yourself. James was pretty much ready to pop the question to you since second year, and I think he actually did a couple of times."

"Shut up, you!" Lina exclaimed, slapping me over the head, a slight blush powdering her cheeks.

"She speaks the truth." Al said to Lina, coming up behind her.

"I hate you guys." Lina said, crossing her arms and making her way over to Teddy and Victoire. Scorpius, Al, and I looked after her, and I laughed.

"It's as if they're still not dating," Scorpius chuckled. I nodded.

"But now they are and she's still denying everything!"

-A+R+S-

On the second of January, bags were packed, presents were stuffed haphazardly into trunks, and owls hooted indignantly as they were locked in their cages, ready to go back to Hogwarts. My family walked back to the station with everyone, laughing and joking.

"Don't you think there's something really corny about having a Valentines wedding?" Scorpius asked, wrinkling his nose as Dominique informed them of the date. She shrugged.

"It's what they want." Dominique said, "Victoire and Teddy have always been hopeless romantics anyway."

"Blarggg..." Al said, pretending to retch.

"Yeah, I don't like Valentines day much either..." I said, thinking of all the candy hearts and pink streamers that had littered the common room after the last year's Valentines day party.

"I agree. Too many people are born in November." Scorpius added to our conversation, to which I slapped him on the head. "Hey! It's true!" Scorpius said, rubbing the back of his head.

"You have a sick mind." was all I could come up with.

"Yes, I thank it."

"I seriously don't know why we're friends sometimes."

"It's because you hate everyone else."

"No I don't!"

"The name McLaggen ring any bells?"

"You suck."

"Lovers quarrel."

"**SHUT UP AL!**"


	16. Wedding Time

**Author's Note: Hi people! So, I know you're probably really pissed at me to wait to post this for so long, but blame the website. It was like, I clicked on Doc Manager(upload), and it was like, you are not signed in, then I signed in a again, then it said, you are not signed in, and so on. Okay, so, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I skipped ahead to the day of Victoire's wedding, which is by the way Valentines Day.**

**Chapter 17: Valentine Wedding**

"Get your lazy bum out of bed Miss Rose Weasley!" A commanding voice yelled from above me, jerking me out of doze. I rubbed my eyes vigorously to clear them and looked up above me. Lily Potter's excited face swam above me, and I screamed.

"What are you doing here?" I yelled at my cousin.

"Geez Rose. Paranoid much?" Lily exclaimed, annoyance crossing her face to be replaced instantly by excitement. "Today's Valentines Day _and_ Victoire's wedding! It's so exciting!"

"Victoire and Teddy's wedding is _today_?" I shrieked, leaping out of bed to check my calendar. Sure enough, the date was marked with hearts(Abby's doing) and in small print at the top of the date it said 'Wedding'.

"Told you." Lily said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Right after breakfast we all have to go to Professor McGonagall's office to use the floo network, then me, you, Roxie, and Dom have to get into our bridesmaids dresses. Better wake your friends. Dom is totally freaking out." Lily said, and left with a glance behind her to make sure I was complying. I sighed. Vic had chosen Dom for her Maid of Honor, as her sister, and Dom had been doubting the position she had been given ever since. She was probably hyperventilating right now.

I rolled out of my bed, suddenly wide awake. Ten minutes later, I was dressed, showered, clean, and dragging a comb through my wet hair, then drying it magically. I made my way over to Gracie's bed, prodding my friend who had been tossing and turning a minute earlier. She opened her eyes, looking around.

"Calm down Gracie," I said, reassuring my friend. "It's Valentines Day!" Her face immediately fell at the mention of Valentines day.

"So?" she asked, and I knew my friend was thinking of all the other Valentines days that she had been dateless. Gracie _hated_ Valentines day.

"Victoire and Teddy's wedding is today," I reminded her, and her face visibly brightened. She got out of bed and clapped her hands together in excitement. She ran over to Abby's bed and shook her sleepy friend, then moved on to Lina. Abby lifted her head blearily, then saw the calendar. With a scream of excitement she leaped up out of bed/

"It's VALENTINES DAYYYY!" Abby screamed ecstatically, waking the drowsy Lina, and an annoyed Amber and Riley. "OMG I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR COUSIN'S WEDDING I'VE NEVER BEEN TO ONE BEFORE!" Abby continued yelling, getting up out of bed, and Gracie covered her ears.

"You done?" I asked calmly.

"Yeah, I'm done." said a very satisfied Abby, who was currently smirking with her success of waking the whole room up. I sighed and threw a pair of her socks at her.

"Get dressed in something nice. Same for you two." I said, pointing to Abby, Gracie, and Lina.

"How come your not then? It's your cousin's wedding." Lina demanded of me, glaring at me as if I had been the one to wake her. I rolled my eyes.

"Because I'm not even going to be wearing this at the wedding. Remember, I'm going to be in my bridesmaid dress." I told them, whipping my hair up into a ponytail.

"Ugh, don't do that. It shows your ears." Lina said, slapping my hand away jokingly. I felt my pointy pixie ears gingerly.

"Your ears are fine." Gracie said gently.

"No, keep your hair up! The pixie ears add to the general complexion!" Abby giggled.

"On second thought, Gracie's right." I said, laughing at my friends. Abby pocked her tongue out at me and I returned the gesture. Once we were all dressed appropriately, we hurried down to the common room, where Lily was already waiting for them. Her eyes did a once over on them, then she nodded.

"Come on, all the guys are probably already at McGonagall's office." Lily said, beckoning them out the portrait hole. On the way out someone wolf whistled, and I looked around to spot Ryan Turner obviously checking Abby out, and not at all trying to hide it. I could tell my friends had noticed it too, including Abby, who seemed to be reveling in the sudden attention. I elbowed her in the stomach, and she doubled over. When she caught up to us outside the common room, we were still walking, smirks on our faces.

"What was that for? It hurt!" Abby exclaimed, rubbing her virtually non-existent stomach.

"Really, though?" I said, mock-surprised. "Turner seemed to enjoy the chance to look up your—"

"This conversation is over." Abby interrupted me, a slight blush tinting her face as we walked into McGonagall's office.

"Good, you're here." Proffesor McGonagall said, gesturing to the fireplace where the flames were green. Everyone else had already gone, so I stepped forward first. I was engulfed by the warm flames, and chocked back a giggle(I was very ticklish) as I twirled out of sight. After a long ride, I stepped out of the Weasley fireplace where Scorpius, Al, and some others were still milling around.

"Hi Rose! It took you a long time to get here!" Piped up Lysander Scamander, a boy a few years younger than Lily and his brother Lorcan.

"Hi Ly!" I greeted the little boy in a friendly way. Scorpius turned his head and took me in.

"I've never seen you with your hair up Rose." he said, gesturing to it.

"There's a reason for that." Lina said, popping out of the fireplace at that moment. I scowled at her smirk, though it was mostly directed towards Scorp.

"No, that's not what I meant. It looks good actually." Scorpius said quickly, which for some reason made Lina smirk even wider.

"_Thank _you." I said, turning to the newly appeared Abby, who was coughing. "Abby says it makes me look like an elf." I said, disgruntled.

"Hey—I said—pixie." Abby choked out between coughs as Gracie popped out behind her, not affected. Roxie tapped me on the shoulder.

"We have to get changed. Apparently Vic, Lily, and Dom are already up in your room getting ready." I nodded and turned to my friends.

"I'm going to go. You three," I pointed to Gracie, Abby, and Lina, and looked them over. "you might want to get cleaned up. Ask one of the adults to cast 'Scourgify' on you." I said, gesturing to the soot from the fireplace that had settled on them. Fred pulled out his wand in an instant. "No, not you! I don't trust you!" I said to him, and he smirked and put it away. I ran up the staircases two at a time and knocked on my door, to which Dominique answered 'come in'. I opened the door to see Victoire dressed in all her glory, and her beauty took my breath away.

Her dress was like no other. It was as white as a porcelain figurine, lace sleeves holding the bodice up, which was also adorned with lace, which ended at the waist but a long strand fell to the bottom of the dress. Near the waist, the fabric was gathered slightly, and it fell fully to her feet, the train long enough to be pretty but not so long that she would trip. A bouquet of white roses were clasped in her hands, and bare nervousness showed on her perfect petite face. Her hair was twisted up into an intricate knot and one curled strand fell over her face.

"You look awesome." I said, the situation finally hitting me. I smiled widely.

"Oh, you're not getting all sentimental now, are you?" Lily groaned. She tossed a blue dress at me, the one I had tried on at the fitting. "Get changed. You also might want to do something about the soot." She added, looking me over. Victoire pulled out her wand and waved it, intoning _Scorgify. _I nodded thanks and ran into the bathroom to change. The dress was form fitting but comfortable, strapless, and bright, aqua blue. It fell loosely a few inches above the knees. I twirled out of the bathroom, then fell the rest of the way. Roxi laughed at my stumble, then went to grabbed her own dress and went into the bathroom.

"So, what are we doing for makeup, hair, and other stuff?" I asked Lily, who it appeared was in charge.

"Well, first off, take your hair down, because it is _not_ going to be like that in the wedding(luckily)," Lily said, muttering the last word under her breath so I could barely hear it, but scowled as I undid my ponytail.

"Scorpius said it looked nice." I said mutionesly.

"Well, of course Scorpius would." Lily muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's supposed to mean that Frank Longbottom is a right douche who no one likes."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I scowled. Why did all my friends and family members have a problem with my boyfriend?

"He's too nice." Lily muttered under her breath, and I threw my hands up into the air. Roxi came out of the bathroom, twirling in her new dress(but not falling) and stopped when she saw my cheeks flushed and Lily with her arms crossed. I turned to her.

"Roxi, do you hate my boyfriend too?" She paused guiltily.

"Would you like me to tell you what you want to hear or the truth?" she asked hesitantly. I groaned, doing a face palm as Lily grinned at Roxanne and Dom laughed.

"Okay, everyone hates my boyfriend. Can we move on to makeup, hair, and accessories now?" I asked them so they would stop laughing at my expense. Lily became serious, but Dom kept laughing hysterically, which probably meant that either she thought that this was hilarious or that she was on the verge of a mental break down. "Dominique, _calm."_ I said in a patronizing tone. She made the kind of gulp slash intake of breath that my whole family made when they had to stop laughing. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the excitement, but she calmed down.

Lily started to explain the makeup, hair, and accessories like they were a battle plan, and I listened. "Okay, so what we're going to do..."

-A+R+S-

"Do you, Victoire Weasley, take Ted Lupin to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish 'till death do you apart?" The man asked Victoire.

"I do." Victoire said breathlessly.

"You may kiss the bride." the chaplain said too late, for Teddy had already pulled Vic into a deep kiss, to which everyone clapped. Those two had come so far, from best friends to a couple to husband and wife. It made me want to get teary eyed, but I contained myself and went to congratulate Teddy and Victoire, that is, if they would ever stop kissing. When they finally broke apart, they grinned at each other, both of their smiles bright enough to challenge the sun. People started to swarm into their bubble, congratulating them and snapping pictures. I made my way forward.

"VIC! You're married now!" I squealed to my cousin, air kissing her on both cheeks then throwing myself into her arms. "I can't believe that we were blowing bubbles just eight years ago with you and Teddy."

"Aww... You'll get there too Rosie!" she said excitedly.

"Probably not anytime soon! I mean, look at you, you started dating Teddy like six years ago, and it took him this long to propose." I said.

"Hey, I wasn't that bad!" Ted said from behind them, hearing what they were saying. "Most people take much longer than that. I heard of a guy who took ten years."

"IN A MOVIE!"

"It was a good movie!" Ted exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest like a small child. I turned to Victoire, shaking my head and giving her a look that clearly said 'and you're marrying _this_ guy?' to which she laughed.

"Oh, and that reminds me. Dom owes me ten galleons." I said, looking around for my cousin.

"Why?" Ted asked confusedly. Dominique appeared behind them.

"We made a bet, I lost, and it's YOUR fault!" she said, handing over ten galleons from a small clutch to me, which I pocketed, looking triumphant.

"Oh no, you didn't bet on how long it would take me to propose, did you?" Teddy groaned as he bumped his head against the nearest pillar.

"Don't take it personally, we bet on everything." I said unconcernedly.

"AHA! Then I'm going to make a bet with someone about how long it's going to take for you to dump Longbottom!" Ted said, pointing a finger at me.

"They're not placing bets on that!" I scoffed at him.

"Yeah they are, we've all been betting on that(well, the adults) since your mum got that letter in the mail." Ted said unconcernedly, ruffling his hair as it turned from the normal brown he had worn for the wedding to the bright turquoise that he preferred. I spluttered in indignation, and he turned to look at me, a small smirk playing across his features. "But, Rosie, don't take it personally, we bet on everything."

"I hate you."

"You're not allowed to hate me on my wedding."

"Watch me."

"I'm looking,"

"You suck."

"That's nice."

"Yeah it— wait, what?"

-A+R+S-

I gasped as the scenery inside the wedding tent changed by magic, replacing the rows and rows of chairs with a sparkling dance floor. Music began to play from a modern DJ set at the front of the row. Muggle technology was always the best for this type of thing. Watching as Teddy and Victoire began to dance, a sense of extreme happiness flowed from me, only a twinge of sadness penetrating my reverie. It seemed only yesterday when Teddy had been groaning over "girl cooties", Victoire chasing him around the house. I shook myself. These kind of thoughts were meant for old people, and I was not old! Grabbing Gracie by the arm, I tugged her onto the dance floor, both of us carefree and wild as we twirled to the music.

Thirty minutes later we deserted the dance floor, laughing so hard that we were clutching our stomachs, and made our way toward Al and Scorpius who were standing on the side. "Why aren't you guys dancing?" I exclaimed, looking back and forth from their faces. Al pointed sideways at Scorpius.

"He doesn't like to dance." he said sulkily, glaring at his best friend. I stared incredulously at Scorpius.

"How can you not like to dance?" I asked him, and he shrugged. "You know how, right?" I asked, and it was his turn to stare.

"Of course I know how to dance, _everyone _ knows how to dance."

"Just checking." I said, holding my hands up in surrender. He visibly sulked as Gracie ran back into the dancing with Al by her side. I looked after them, and they were dancing together, which made me smile. Something in Scorpius' face softened, too, when he saw them twirling each other around sillily. I turned back to him and grabbed his hand, dragging his hand toward the dancing.

"What are you doing?" he asked, resisting. I tugged harder.

"You are going to dance with me!" I said, pushing him onto the dance floor before he could protest. He grumbled but began to dance, his body moving with the beat, and I had to admit: he was very good at it. "How can you not like to dance?" I yelled to him over the music. He laughed and shrugged again, which didn't give me much of an answer. The DJ announced that "this next song is for the ladies out there", and I screamed and ran to the front with the other girls, just looking behind me quickly to see if Scorpius stayed on the dance floor, which surprisingly he did. As 'Only Girl' by Rihanna, a muggle pop star, and I start dancing with Lina, Abby, and Gracie, creating a mini circle around each other and wrapping our arms around each other. We yelled the lyrics of the song over the crowd until the song ended, laughing by the end as Lina pretended to be a talk show host saying the words in a fake American accent.

"Okay, okay!" The DJ yelled, who I soon recognized to be George Weasley. "Since I've played a song for the ladies, it's only fair that I play a tune for you guys out there!" He said, putting the song on. As the first lyrics came out of the boom box, all four of us screamed. I'm Sexy And I Know It is Abby's favorite song, and she began to dance with anyone in the vicinity. I laughed as I realized that they guy in the middle of the dancing mob was now none other than Mr. I-don't-like-to-dance-and-I'm-only-going-to-shrug-when-you-ask-why. I pointed it out to Gracie, and she doubled over in laughter as well before we joined the fray.

When the dedicated songs ended, I had had a few swigs of Firewiskey, and the music slowed down, a smirking Scorpius popped up in front of me, holding out a hand. "You're dancing with me!" he exclaimed, and I laughed with him as I followed him onto the dance floor and took his hands in mine. The slow song they were playing was Taylor Swift's Teardrops on my Guitar, and we danced for a long time. My memory of that night stops there. The rest is only blurs, but the only thing I know is that when I woke up the next day, I started doubting my relationship with Frank for the first time.


	17. Ryan Turner

**Author's Note: Hi people! So, I just wanted to tell everyone who has read, reviewed, subscribed, added me to Story Alert or Favorites, thank you, it's so great to feel that people read and like my stories. If I ever publish books, my first one will be dedicated to you guys, I promise. Well, I might not dedicate the **_**first**_** book, but I will one of them. yeah, well, thanks to all of you. By the way, I was going to put this as the author's note last chapter, but I had to switch it to apologize for my lateness. Oh yeah, and if I'm late this time, which I hope I'm not, it's because my brother broke his collarbone. SOOOO, enjoy!**

**team. : I know, and yeah, that is what they have against him. ****I know that being too nice is kind of a lame excuse to not like someone, but don't you ever meet someone who never says anything bad or something, and it kind of annoys you? Well, that is their excuse. Anyway, it's a Rose/**_**Scorpius **_**fanfic, so yeah.**** No, no one really knows that Scorpius likes Rose, but it's just they think that they would be good together. Remember in the letter her mom sent to her? '****The dance sounded wonderful, and I'm happy to hear that you are happy with Frank, though personally I would've guessed otherwise….'**

**P.S. If you have a very pure and untouched mind, I would suggest not reading this. Actually, I would suggest never reading any fanfiction, for it doesn't seem to do the whole pure and untouched sort of thing.**

**Chapter 18:**** Ryan Turner**

I giggled as another firework went off in the distance, watching with Scorpius and Al from behind a corner as the Weasley Wizard Wheezes fireworks that we had purchased went off, startling a few stray students out after curfew. At nine at night, our disturbance hadn't _really_ been meant to alert anyone other than a cursing Filch and Mrs. Norris, perhaps the patrolling prefects, but it was rather amusing to see a couple appear from a broom closet and curse at the sudden appearance of an exuberant spark in their face. Speaking of prefects, two suddenly appeared in the scene, warding off the stray firework with their hands, batting them off angrily. I peeked my face out from around the corner that we were hiding behind, grinning at the sight of the exasperated prefects. Just then one of the prefects in question turned my way, an angry expression on his face, and the grin slid off my face like water off a slick window pane. Recognition passed over Frank's face, then he put his face in his hands, frustration apparent in his expression. I slipped back around the corner and slid down the wall to sit on the hard stone floor. Al looked a little confused but began to run away from the scene. Scorpius slid his face closer to the wall, looking around the corner, and understanding appeared on his face. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the ground.

"Come on," he said, pushing me toward the place where Al had disappeared. I ran, not looking back, Scorpius behind me. We caught our breath as we went through the portrait hole, slowing to a walk and giving The Fat Lady the password(Leap Year) and heading into the Common Room. Al came up to us right when we came into the deserted room.

"Why did we have to leave?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Some prefects came." I answered shortly, heading past them to the staircase to the girl's dormitories.

"What's up with her?" Al asked Scorpius from behind me.

"She's just worried about her boyfriend." he said gruffly, and sudden anger surged through me. I turned and stormed back to where they were standing.

"He's probably not going to be my boyfriend much longer because of this!" I exclaimed, gesturing to the portrait hole entrance from which we had come. Scorpius lifted himself up from where he had sank onto the couch and faced me.

"Oh, is that right?" he asked, matching my tone.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "We never should have done it anyway!"

"Why do you care if he sees you anyway? It was a harmless prank, just a few fireworks!"

"It doesn't matter, I can't risk a fight!" Scorpius stared at me for a second, then raised his voice into a yell.

"Who are you? You _can't risk a fight with your boyfriend_? But you can risk a fight with us, can you? Your best friends? I say if your boyfriend can't accept what you've been doing for all the years you've been here, he doesn't deserve you!" He yelled, putting extra contempt on the word 'boyfriend'.

"With you, I know I can't lose you! We've had loads of other fights before!" I say, waving my hand in dismissal. Once it had come out of my mouth, I knew it was the wrong thing to say. Deep hurt was evident on Scorpius' face, and Al's was shocked.

"That's how you think of us?" Scorpius whispered. "Something that you can't bother to take care of because it's definite that we'll stay?" Hurt was etched deep into his face. I tried to reach out to him.

"Scorpius... That's not what I meant at all..." I said, at a loss. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever." he said, turning. "Go to your boyfriend. Wouldn't want to risk a fight." Al cast a last glance to me and followed Scorpius up the boy's staircase. I sank onto the sofa, my posture defeated and hopeless, then stood slowly and made my way up to my dorm room, sank onto my bed, then fell into an unhappy sleep.

-A+R+S-

Wind whipped through my long hair as I soared above the clouds, sitting sideways on my broom, my legs dangling off its side. A small bird emerged from the mist that was a pearly white cloud, soaking wet with it's feathers sticking to its sides. I laughed mirthlessly at the little pigeon. The truth was is, although the "cotton candy clouds" looked inviting, if you tried to sit on one, you would come up with a soaked pair of jeans and come down with a cold.

I sighed, my attempt of distracting myself not working in the least. I directed my broom through a cloud to the ground, not caring that my clothes were now very damp from the misty afternoon fog. When I finally emerged from the cloud, I adjusted my eyes to look out onto the court, the sight I saw totally going against the whole reason why I came out here. _Maybe he had the same idea. _I thought as I watched Scorpius do some sharp swerves, spinning in the air. As I looked closer, I saw that his face was drawn with concentration, if not pain. _It's my fault._ I thought. _It's all my fault._ Just then he turned in my direction and caught sight of me, his eyes widening. It had been two weeks since our fight, but we hadn't talked to each other since. It was the longest one we had gone without each others company, ever.

-A+R+S-

_Has she been watching me this whole time?_ I wondered, looking up at the barely visible figure of Rose Weasley right below a cloud. Our gazes met, and I looked away angrily. I don't even know if she's coming up here to cry over me, anyway. It could be just her boyfriend. They could have broken up. The thought made my heart lift slightly. _Dirty wanker_, I scolded myself with a grin. I rode my broom towards Rose, thinking that this was as good a time as any to make up. I saw her eyes flash with surprise as I flew towards her. I smiled as I stopped next to her.

"Enjoying watching my moves, eh Rosie?" I said, trying to act like everything was normal. She looked startled but smiled tentatively.

"Hardly. Just trying to think of the right way to dry myself off from the cloud." Rose said. I pressed my hand to my hand to my chest in a mock-offended manner.

"Well, I'm just so offended by that statement Rose Weasley!" I said. She giggled, actually giggled, and I laughed with her. After our laughter died away she just sat and stared at me.

"How'd Frank take it?" I asked her.

"Not well. He made me promise not to do it again." Rose said, burying her face in her hands.

"Are you going to? Not ever prank again I mean." I asked her seriously. She raised her head, a look of desperation in her eyes.

"I don't know, Scorp. One part of me doesn't want to have Frank angry with me, but another part of me just says 'Why do you care Rose? When has he ever changed for you?'" I mulled over what she said.

"What happened?"

"He just yelled at me about the "damage" our fireworks caused, and then told me never to do it again." Rose said, the corner of her mouth lifting up into a smirk. I laughed, seeing the humor in the situation. The fireworks that we had bought were completely harmless, even said on the label that you could literally walk through them. It was just the noise and lights that were the fun part of it. "Apparently the prefect that he was patrolling with, the girl, fainted when a firework flew through her chest." she laughed, and we stayed that way for a while, just laughing together in the air until it began to get dark and we headed back to the ground, joking and laughing. It was clear that things were normal between us again. I was glad.

-A+R+S-

"Shhh..." I intoned as I hid next to the dormitory door with Gracie, Lina peeking around the side of the bathroom door. We waited as the sound of footsteps drew closer, and our friend gave a full blown whoop as she got to the top of the staircase. I looked questioningly at Gracie, but she just shrugged, which I took to mean: 'It's her birthday, after all.' It was. And turning sixteen was quite a special event. As she got closer, we all trembled with excitement. We had decorated the whole room and kicked Amber and Riley out for the night, telling them that they should go visit Riley's sister in fourth year. They had just managed it a few minutes before, when Al(who agreed to help) alerted us to the presence of Abby in the common room. As Abigail entered the room, her jaw fell open. The whole room was swathed with streamers of all different colors, and the walls were pink and charmed to flash: _Happy Birthday Abs!_ The nickname was somewhat of a joke between us, since Abby was known to have no strength whatsoever. So we called her that, though it only annoyed her occasionally.

We burst out from our hiding spots and screamed: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!" She shrieked and began to hug us, squealing excitedly. We sat down on the floor with candy and began to open various presents that both her family, some of my family, friends, and we got her. She opened present after present, and her face showed delight at what people got her. The last present she opened was a jar of cream. She sniffed it and wrinkled her nose.

"It's from me." Lina said, smirking slightly which made me kind of not want to know what was inside the little jar. It seemed Abby felt the same way, because she set it aside gingerly. Lina waited for one of us to ask what it was, and finally I did.

"Okay, I'll humor you," I said resignedly as she smirked wider. "What's in the jar Lina?"

"Well, this is what it's for." she said, holding up the jar and bringing it over to Abby's left side. She lifted up the hair on her neck and revealed a huge love bite that none of us had noticed before. Abby gasped and yanked her hair away, but the damage had been done. Lina was laughing hard, but she managed to get out. "Oh, come on, hold still, I still have to show you what it does." Abby was cringing at our laughter, but held still this time. Lina applied the white cream to the blemish on Abby's neck, and it began to fade immediately. "See, problem solved!" Lina said, pretending to dust off her hands.

"Thanks." Abby said, looking around at our expectant faces.

"So, tell us. What random situation did occur for you to obtain that hickey?" Gracie said, flopping down onto her belly on the ground and propping her head up with her elbows in mock-interest as if she was watching a movie.

"And does it have anything to do with the loud whoop that you uttered when you came up here?" I asked, grinning like a maniac.

"Okay, guys, don't panic when I say this." Abby started slowly.

"That immediately lets us know that the thing you're about to say is panic worthy," I said dully. "So spit it out."

"I, well, I kind of..." she said, wringing her hands, and then let out a string of mumbled words that I didn't hear. Gracie did, though.

"YOU DID NOT!" she yelled, leaping to her feet, her eyes wide. Lina looked back and forth from Abby's embarrassed face to Gracie's shocked one, then burst out laughing.

"Is there something I'm missing?" I said, standing up too and crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"Oh, Abby, you naughty naughty girl." Lina said, still giggling as she stood up and put her arm around Abby, patting her back in consolation as she laughed at her.

"You're weird." Gracie said in disgust, sitting down in a huff on her bed and crossing her arms over her chest. Rolling her eyes at my expression, she decided to fill me in. "She slept with Turner." I stared at Abby for a minute then burst into hysterical laughter in which she tried to beat me up with a pillow.

"You forgot it was your birthday until you came into the room, didn't you?" I laughed, clutching my stomach. Her whole face flushed and I could almost feel the heat radiating from her face, and we all burst out laughing, including her. We collected ourselves as Amber strutted back into the room, nose in the air. She walked straight past us to the bathroom, and came back out with her hairbrush. She stopped and looked at the room, her weight resting on one hip.

"You better have this cleaned up before me and Riley come back. I'm allergic to the scent of losers." she said snottily, strutting back out the door. We all burst back out laughing, and we heard a snort from the corridor. But we couldn't help ourselves. It was all too funny. Abby stopped and held up the small jar of white paste.

"Thanks Lina. This will prove to be useful, probably. Don't be afraid to borrow it from me, though." she said, laughing as she went to put in the bathroom. It was Lina's turn to turn red, and she did as well all laughed at her.

"You know what would be the funniest?" I said, giggling. the all looked at me expectantly. "If Amber and Riley tried to use it on their faces!" I giggled, and we all burst out laughing. It's wasn't even funny, the joke, but we couldn't help it. You had the right to laugh uncontrollably at at least one point in your life. Or a hundred...


	18. Wise Owl

**Author's Note: Hi people! I know this chapter late, but I had a lot going on this weekend. Yeah, a lot. So, I'm trying to catch up chapter time with real time, and I hope to finish this year soon and start the sequel, THE SPARK, for sixth year, but you know, I have to actually speed up my writing then. I've been working a lot on the pictures of characters, and I've been trying to develop a website to house all the outfits and people and stuff, since it's weird on my profile, which is why I took it off. There's a link on my profile and this is the one too: .com/ Thanks, and enjoy!**

**krc101: Thanks! i know the feeling, I often stay up until like, midnight, to read fanfiction, then the next day I'm asleep on my feet!**

**P.S. teamKputt, I can't spell out your name with the dots, the fanfiction format corrects me, so tell me if you prefer team.. or teamKputt without dots. Thanks!**

**Chapter 19: Wise Owl**

When I woke in the morning of my birthday, my covers were being pulled back down off my body onto the floor, and one of my friends was jumping on my bed in an effort to wake me up. "jus' lemme sleep..." I mumbled through my pillow. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get me up, I felt tiny legs tickling the skin on my back.

"I've got a spider," Abby teased, holding it up. I flew right up into a sitting position, eyes wide open.

"I'M UP!" I exclaimed, and they collapsed with laughter, then began singing "Happy Birthday" at the top of their lungs, waking Amber and Riley who I have no idea how, but slept through all the previous clamor.

"Can you people keep it down?" Amber said snottily, putting her head back onto her pillow. They went back to singing happy birthday.

"It's my birthday?" I asked, rubbing my eyes and looking over at the clock on my bed. "It's my birthday!" I screamed at the top of my lungs excitedly when I saw the date. The 23 of February.

"No kidding, numb-skull." Abby said, hitting me across the head.

"Hey, that wasn't how you were treated on your birthday!" I grumbled, rubbing my head and staring at Abby reproachfully.

"Yes, yes, we all know that you would love to be privy to the experiences that Abby had on her birthday, Rosie." Lina said, patting my shoulder consolingly. I must have blushed at least fifty different colors of red right then.

"That is NOT what I meant!" I said, embarrassed.

"_Sure_ it wasn't," Lina said with a smirk, and I scowled at her.

"Hey, I believe this day is titled 'Rose's birthday' not 'tease Rose as much as we want day'," Gracie said lightly.

"_Thank_ you." I said, gesturing toward Gracie and glaring at Lina. She only rolled her eyes.

"Come on birthday girl, get dressed in the cutest outfit you can think of. We have to get downstairs!" Lina yelled enthusiastically.

"Hey, I wasn't treated how I was treated on my birthday!" Abby said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"You snap tight, you got enough presents on your birthday as it is!" Lina said, pointing a finger at Abby she helped Gracie and me pick out a short white skirt and a spaghetti strap top. I laughed as Gracie pulled up the straps so it hung higher on my chest. She blushed and pulled it down again.

"If that's how you prefer it," she muttered, casting a disapproving look at my low top. Lina exploded into giggles, and Abby remarked:

"I guess Rose isn't the only girl in our group obsessed with nunnery." This comment caused both Gracie and I to hit her with out school bags, and she cowered under the blows, admitting finally. "Okay, you aren't nuns. Nuns don't have boyfriends and crushes." Which caused us both to blush profusely, and we were still flushed when we went to breakfast.

"Happy birthday Rosie!" Dominique called from down the table, mimicking her sister and causing us both to laugh. She held up the letter in her hand. "Vic told me to give you that. She wishes you a very happy birthday." She presented me with a present that was labeled: from Teddy and Victoire, and opened it. I gasped at the sight of a gorgeous gold chain with a sparkling pendant on it. The pendant was the shape of an owl, small and glass, with sparkling green eyes. I took it out of it's case, admiring the sides, and fastened it on my neck. I had always had this thing with owls, china ones, glass ones, ceramic ones, real ones... I noticed that the case had two letters, one from Teddy, one from Victoire. I picked up Vic's letter first.

_ Dear Rose,_

_ Happy birthday! I can't believe you're already sixteen. You know, seventeen was the age when I fell in love with Teddy. Just one more year until you're seventeen, who knows, you might fall in love then, too. I hope you love your present, but don't credit me. I only approved it. Teddy was the one who picked it out. I can't believe that boy sometimes, the things he does! Most guys are hopeless at jewelry and clothes and stuff, but not Teddy. He picked it for another reason beside your owl association, though, but I'll let him fill you in on that aspect! I hope you like it! _

_Your loving cousin,_

_Victoire Weasley Lupin_

I smiled at the signature. I'm sure Victoire really enjoys writing the name 'Lupin' after her own. It must be such a giddy feeling. I turned to the next letter, hungry to know what Teddy had to say to me.

_Dear Rosie,_

_ How's my little cousin? Sixteen already! Really Rosie, you grow to fast! I hope you like the necklace, and I'm sure Victoire has already exclaimed about how surprised she is that I actually succeed choosing a piece of jewelry. Yes, very surprising, I know. Now I will tell you what it does, other than looking gorgeous around your neck. Do you know how an owl is called a 'Wise Owl'. Well, the store where I got it wasn't a normal jewelry store, and no, it has no dark magic, I didn't get it in Nocturne Alley. The thing that it does is it helps you make decisions. But I'm not talking 'what shirt should I wear to Hogsmeade this weekend' little petty decisions. It's purpose is to help you solve love problems. But it only works once. The thing is, it decides for itself what problems to solve. You can't ask it, it just does. While you have it hanging around your neck, it can read your mind. Yes, read your mind. If you have a real love decision to make, it reads your mind and tells the true answer, it speaks: opens its little beak and speaks, gives you the answer. And no, I do not have something that lets me read your mind through that thing. I'm not a stalker, despite your obvious reservations about that. _

_Your cousin,_

_Teddy Lupin_

I smiled myself through the whole letter, right from the beginning. It was somewhat of a joke of ours, the way we call each other cousins. We're not real blood cousins, of course, but we've always had that inside joke with us. I remember, we were playing one day in the Weasley orchard, and I was teasing him, when I said that he would marry Vic one day, just to annoy him, because at that time for him, girls had cuties. I had giggled, 'then you would be my cousin' and had made fun of him with the title 'cousin' ever since. He only started joining into the joke when he and Victoire started dating, and now, since they're married, it's even more funny. I felt the spot where the little pendant was of the owl on my chest and grasped it in my hand. It was my little owl. It could _read my mind._ I wondered when it's input would arrive. I hoped a long time from now. I got more 'happy birthday' congratulations in many different forms(James and Fred had the whole hall serenade me) over breakfast, and was very embarrassed and pleased by the time I walked into Divination later. I set my bag down and, very subtly, took out my notebook, in which Scorpius and Al followed suit.

**Happy birthday Rose!**

_Thanks. _

I don't get why we take this class.

_What do you think we'll do today? Old bat seems to be losing her mind if you ask me._

**I think she was always like that.**

Yeah, your parents seemed to think so when they went here, didn't they Rosie?

_That was a funny rant. I don't get how a subject can be 'woolly'. It's a subject. _

**Apparently she uses that term all the time, though. I remember that time I came over, remember how your dad was gritting his teeth every time we spoke, Rosie?**

_Hehehe yeah. And yes, my mum does use woolly A LOT. I tell her I need a certain book, she says she met the author and they were 'woolly'. What's that supposed to mean?_

Who knows? If it has a connection to Trelawney, though, it can't be complimentary.

**Oh, don't gang up on the poor old lady. She probably just got hit in the head with a very very very very heavy brick when she was born. Like, really hard.**

That would definitely explain it.

_Shit, she's coming over this way._

Maybe she's going to tell our fortune. Ooh, maybe she's going to tell you what presents you're getting, Rosie!

**Doubt it, she's probably going to give the tragic news that you're going to die today, on your birthday, of all days.**

_She said that the dark blob in the middle of my crystal ball is death._

**Predictable.**

Yeah, she should at least do something that we don't know. Like predict that we'll die of decapitation by a dead person.

**I bet she's done that before, though.**

_Probably. But why did she have to predict me today? She usually predicts Al's death, and calls him Harry._

Crazy old bat. Keeps asking if I've had eye surgery.

**Well, you have, haven't you?**

Noooo.

_Yeah you have._

No, I got my mother's eyesight. You offend me.

**Oh, yeah, I remember you saying that. Seem pretty proud of that.**

_He totally has had eye surgery. I remember the day. He was crying like a little girl._

You suck. That wasn't me, that was Molly.

_Molly still wears glasses dumb ass._

Oh, well then it was Roxanne. And I agree she needed it, she looked horrible with glasses.

**How is it that your family's so big that you don't even remember who had eye surgery? See, this is where my family is superior.**

_Is not!_

**Is.**

_Is not!_

**Is.**

_Is not!_

**Is.**

_Is not!_

**Is!**

_Is not!_

**Is!**

Lovers quarrel.

*in unison* _**SHUT UP AL!**_

-A+R+S-

I was walking back to the girls dormitories with Lina, laughing at a stupid joke I had just said about our birthdays being so close together when I heard a noise. I stopped instinctively, listening for the familiar sound of expensive shoes that I knew would come. Sure enough, Philippe Nott's black shoes rounded the corner at that very second. Lina stiffened next to me, putting a hand on my elbow and pulling me away as Nott's unpleasant face split into a smirk.

"Don't let him ruin today for you," she said to me, walking away and pulling me behind her. I had told her of the unpleasant encounters with Nott, making her promise not to tell anyone else. She thought I should tell a teacher, but left me alone.

"What's today?" Nott called after us. "Oh, is it your _birthday_ Rosie Posie? You should have _told _me. I would have gotten you a present. So lucky that I ran into you today, I can give you something." He began after me and Lina.

"Fuck off." I muttered under my breath, but he heard.

"Aww, that's not very nice." he said, pressing his hand over his chest. "It hurts my feelings."

"You don't have feelings, you're a stalker!" I turned my head around and yelled before sprinting up the staircase in front of Lina, who followed me.

"You should tell someone." Lina said, still catching her breath, a concerned look on her face. I shook my head, giving the password to the Fat Lady and pushing the door open.

"If I tell a teacher, it will just make it worse. You know what those kind of people are like, he'll just stop prolonging the torture and kill me right away to get it over with." The statement was meant as a joke, but Lina's face was serious as she grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face her.

"That's not funny Rose. You have to be careful. Try not to be out alone, especially not at night." she said, her face white.

"I'll be fine," I waved her off.

"I'm serious Rose. You have to promise, or I'll tell Scorpius."

"I promise, I'll be careful." I said, just the thought of Scorpius' reaction saying the words for me. Lina nodded, satisfied, and grabbed my hands.

"NOW, lets go have your birthday!"


	19. Tell Me You Love Me

**Author's Note: Hi people! So, this chapter is early, due to nagging from my friend Madge! See, Madge, I got it to you even sooner than when I promised, satisfied? So, I know I've been doing birthdays a lot lately, and I'm sorry, but I'm going to skip Gracie's. Sorry. SO, ENJOY!**

**P.S. You know the drill, Scorpius is bold, Albus is **underlined, **Rose is** _italics,___**and Lina is **_**bold italics.**_

**Chapter 20: **

I should be happy today, I really should. You wanna know why? Because it's my freaking birthday. That's why. But no. I'm not happy. Not in the least. I shouldn't be too upset, really. I mean, I was his arch-enemy before we started dating, so he wouldn't really know when my birthday was anyway... But still, I blame him. But I guess I should blame myself.

-A+R+S-

_ Dear world(or journal),_

_ Do you know what day it is? Guess, I'll give you three guesses. If you guessed my birthday, you are correct in every way! I have a thousand terms for this day. March 1st. The first day of the third month. My birthday. Sixteenth birthday. The day I turn sixteen. The day, seventeen years ago, when the world was saved. Well, not really, but still. The thing is, fifteen was the year where I had a lot of firsts. First kiss. First boyfriend. First time speaking civilly to James Sirius Potter. First embarrassingly huge and noticeable hickey on my neck left by said first boyfriend. Sixteen, though, is going to be a year of surprises, and happiness. I hope it has a lot in store for me. Waking up today, I was congratulated by my annoying friends who let me panic for five whole minutes that it was ten o'clock before they told me it was Saturday. Damn them. But I guess to my friends, the word "birthday" translates to day when you can annoy person who was born on the day in any means possible. Oh well. But, although this year will be a year of surprises and happiness, it will also have at least one first: first time driving a car. Because in the Muggle world, I could start learning now, but instead I'll learn over the summer with Rose, who I promise to learn with, although **she**, unlike myself, is scared out of her wits. Sixteen will be one fine year, I've already decided._

_Joline Margaret Stuart_

-A+R+S-

** Happy birthday Lina.**

_**There's no exclamation point on the end of that phrase, why is there no exclamation point?**_

** How's this: Happy birthday Lina!**

_**Aww, is little Scorpius having an off day?**_

**Shut up.**

Yeah, he is. And he won't tell me anything. I swear he's moping about being turned down by some girl.

_Oh, and who would that be?_

I don't know. I'm just guessing.

**I'm fine.**

You know, for someone who visibly mopes like that, you can't even try to deny it.

** I don't visibly mope!**

_**Ah, now we've got him back.**_

** I hate you all. I'm going to mope now.**

** _...or not._**

__Well, whatever! Happy birthday Lina!

_** Yay thanks! wonder what James is going to do...**_

_Wait, does James even KNOW when your birthday?_

_ **Well, I... think... he does.**_

__You better make sure, though. You two were enemies before, and if I remember clearly, you made very certain that he got nowhere near your personal life.

_**I think he does.**_

_You better not blame him if he doesn't know, though._

_**Of course I won't.**_

-A+R+S-

_ My dear Joline,_

_ Happy birthday dear! I can't believe only yesterday you were a small baby in my arms and now you're sixteen years old! If you were at home you would be learning to drive a car right about now... Vicki misses her older sister a lot, she can't wait until you come home Lina. She's excited for the summer, Lina, since you asked to go over to Rose's for winter break. Understandable, yes, but still, Vicki misses you. I can't believe you were once my little Joline and her my little Victoria, but now you both have grown so much and now you're "Lina" and she's "Vicki". By the way, Vicki wants to know if it comes in families with the Hogwarts thing, she's quite worried about it actually. She says that if she can't be here with her friends for secondary school, she'll miss them terribly. It doesn't go by families, though, does it? Because neither me or your father were or are magical. Your sister's present is attached, along with mine._

_Lots of love,_

_Your mother_

-A+R+S-

_Lina—_

_ What's going on with you today? I feel like there's something I should know. It was going so well before you cut it off. I'm sorry for whatever I did._

—_James_

-A+R+S-

_James—_

_ There's nothing up. No, there's nothing you should know. It wasn't working, we're too different, we don't know things we should know about each other. For instance, I don't even know when your birthday is. Do you even know mine?_

—_Lina_

-A+R+S-

_Rose—_

_ What's wrong with Lina? She dumped me, just out of the blue. Is today an off day for her or something? She's going on about us not knowing anything about each other, like me not knowing her birthday and she not knowing mine. Do you know anything?_

—_James_

-A+R+S-

_James—_

_ What's wrong with Lina? What wrong with **you** is the question that I'm asking. And no, she's not having an off day, actually, today is special for her. And anyway, are you that thick. She going on about—birthdays? What does that tell you? Figure it out, it's not that hard._

—_Rose_

-A+R+S-

_ Rose—_

_ I'm confused. Today is special for her? Birthdays? And no, I'm not thick, I'm just not fluent in the language of 'girl' yet. Is that necessary for having a girlfriend? Wait a minute... birthdays? Is today her birthday? Merlin I'm such an idiot._

—_James Idiot Potter_

-A+R+S-

_ James Idiot Potter—_

_ I don't get how you managed to put the words "special" and "birthdays" in such close proximity with each other and yet didn't figure it out. And yes, learning the language of "girl" is necessary to have a girlfriend, so you better figure it out quick. One piece of advice(or more like a necessity): GO AFTER HER AND SAY SORRY. And yes, I do agree that you are an idiot._

—_Rose Genius Weasley_

-A+R+S-

_Rose(I refuse to call you genius) Weasley—_

_ I'm going to go after her. And get her a present. I know she'll like it. Trust me, I'll fix this. _

—_James_

-A+R+S-

_Dear Mum,_

_ Do you still have that brand new broom that you got from your team that you never use? Can you send it? I seem to have gotten in a little tight spot with my girlfriend. I forgot her birthday. I know you're cursing me right now, but if you send it soon, I can still get it to her on her birthday. Please, I'll fix it. Thanks mum. Anyway, I didn't know when it was anyway, so you can't really blame me._

_your idiotic son,_

_James Potter_

-A+R+S-

_Dear idiotic son,_

_I can't believe you forgot or didn't know Lina's birthday! That's the big no-no with any kind of relationship with a girl. You are idiotic, that's for sure. And yes, I was cursing you right then. And your father was laughing at you with Uncle Ron. Hermione was cursing you with me. And yeah, your letter did interrupt a reunion of sorts. Well, at least, that's what **Percy** calls it, but now that he's gone to the loo we're all making fun of it. Yes, I still have the broom, this is attached to it. Don't give it to her. Send it, it's more romantic. And have a note with it. Then come up behind her—not in the stalker way, just—oh, what am I doing giving you relationship advice? Anyway, figure the rest out yourself._

_Love,_

_your mother_

-A+R+S-

_Lina—_

_ I think this present was long overdue, but I hope you'll still accept it. I hope you'll also still accept my apology, because yes, I did forget your birthday. In my defense, I didn't actually know when it was, but I don't know if that even gets me any points at all. I hope I'm still your boyfriend._

_Love,_

_James_

-A+R+S-

I gasped as I threw back the wrappings and revealed a stunning broom from behind them. Yanking it out of the trailing paper, I examined it from head to tail, taking in the shiny new paint, the perfectly curved twigs, not one out of place, all uniform and beautiful. The engraving stated in cursive: Firebolt 2000. I looked around for a card, and found on a few feet away that was tossed out of the way when I took the broom out of the wrapping paper. I read the letter over and smiled to myself.

"James," I whispered, reading over the signature. My eyes lingered on the word "love". Well, love it was. Now, in the meantime, I would go and test my new broom. I ran out to the Quidditch pitch, mounted my broom, and sped out into the night. The wind rushed through my long blonde hair and I laughed in exhilaration.

"So you like it then?" I looked down at the source of the yell, and I saw James with his hands stuck in his pockets and smirk on his face, leaning over the side of the railing. I laughed again and flew down the hover before the spot where he was situated.

"How did you do this?" I asked him incredulously, gesturing to the broom underneath me. He shrugged.

"My mum plays on the Holyhead Harpies, and they give her loads of the new brooms. This was one of the recent ones.

"Oh, really? So you didn't just buy this?" I laughed jokingly, and he pretended to look offended.

"Lina, my family's not _that _rich..."

"Somehow I don't entirely believe that."

"Alright, you, let me up." He said impatiently, gesturing for me to the railing so he could get on my broom. I did.

"Are you sure this broom can hold your fat arse?" I teased.

"Oh, been looking at my arse lately, have you?"

"You can't just get me a broom every time you mess up, you know." I said, directing the broom up back into the air, going up, up, up. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"I know. But there's always gloves, boots, and hey, my mum gets new brooms very often."

"You're an insufferable git, you know that right?"

"You love me."

"You're still an insufferable git."

"And you fell for an insufferable git." he said, then looked up into my eyes intensely. I looked back, sinking into the amber depths. He brought his face close to mine. "Lina, tell me you love me." he demanded, his sweet breath on my cheek. I didn't hesitate.

"I love you James. I really, truly, love y—" He brought his lips to mine, cutting off the last word and pressing my head back against the broom, entangling his limbs with mine. His hand entwined with mine and hung off the end of the broom as we headed up farther into the sky, out of sight.


	20. Perfect

**Author's Note: So, I know this year has gone past quickly, and I hope you like my extra long chapter too. By the way, I'm not going to continue this story on THE NEW GENERATION, but it's going to be on another fanfiction story thingy, called THE SPARK, and you will be able to find it on my profile in a month or so. The reason that this year has come so speedily to a halt is that I'm going—with my whole grade at SFFS(my school) to Nicaragua, which if you didn't know where it is, it's in the whole Mexico/Guatemala/El Salvador area, you know, Central America. So, when I come back on April 6th, I'll start working on the chapters and then post them about two weeks after, just so there is a little bit of a break! If you don't read my Author's Notes, it's your loss and you won't be able to follow my fanfiction couple: Scorpius/Rose, which I promise I will try to get some more action in soon, well, at the end of sixth year at least... Oh, and by the way, I just ended the posting on my blog, for a while or forever. Don't cyberbully or cyberstalk, it's really not cool. It hurts people too much. The link is right here if you want to see my ending post: .com/. So, enjoy my extra long chapter!**

**Chapter 21: Perfect**

"I'm glad you're not like your mother," Al exclaimed as he threw down his pencil. I copied the motion and smirked at him.

"And why is that?"

"Because," he said, smirking back at me. "we would have had to do this looooong ago."

"That's nice, but you don't even know that's a good thing. We could fail."

"Ahh, there's your mother's genes, reappearing at last!" I smiled.

"Get to work, you great lump." I hit him with my notes, and he made a grab for them. Staring at them, he looked up at me.

"Where do you get these?" he asked me incredulously. "You don't take notes in class. Well, you write notes, but they're not about the class." I grabbed them back, smirking.

"They're your girlfriend's."

"Gracie's?"

"Already associate her with the word girlfriend, Al? I'm impressed." I said, smirking wider. He waved it away.

"Oh, that. I'm over it." he said, and I looked at him in disbelief, along with Scorpius, who had just looked up from his papers.

"When you say "over it" do you mean..." Scorpius asked, pretending to push invisible glasses down the bridge of his nose. I didn't even laugh at the joke, just stared at Al.

"Yes, when I say "over it" I mean I don't like her as more than a friend anymore. It would never have happened." Al said, turning back to his scanty notes. He was either a very good liar, which was actually true, or he spoke true. But no, I didn't believe that. And neither did Scorpius. Because when we left the library trailing after Albus, he whispered in my ear.

"I can't believe he thinks he can get away with lying to _us _about that."

"I know, he's been in love with her since last year, he's can't just think that we think he's just going to throw it away now. But, mark my words, they will happen. Whether it's when they're both on their deathbeds, I don't care." I said, walking out of the library with Scorpius next to me.

"I like your logic." he smiled teasingly at me, and I smiled back.

"Well, if I don't come up with it, who will?" I said, thinking of my mother's favorite quote: If you don't do it, who will. That's what she always got me to do stuff with. If you don't clean your room, who will? If you don't wash your clothes, who will? If you don't practice for Quidditch tryouts next year when you're allowed to be on the team, who will? Well, that wasn't what my mother said, that last one. That was my dad in the summer before second year, imitating her while trying to get me to work harder for my desired spot on the team: Seeker. Now I was glad, but then I was grumbling about having homework and chores and stuff to do. I began to run.

"Race you to the dormitories!" I yelled behind me, and he broke into a run too. He sped up and passed me.

"You have to do better than that!" He teased as he spun his body around to face me, running backwards.

"No fair! You have longer legs than me!" I pouted as I ran, though I wasn't tired at all yet as we raced. I began to sprint with all my might, and Scorpius, seeming to sense that I was now trying my very hardest to beat him, swerved back forward and ran as I chased after him. I ran for a long time after his retreating shape until it suddenly disappeared. I looked around for him, and noticed that it was beginning to get dark. Nervousness began to set in as the sun sank behind the sharp crags in the distance. My ears strained, nose twitched, not wanting to hear the sound of Nott's black shoes, smell the scent of expensive cologne that wafted off him. His visits had become more frequent as time went past, his four times from the beginning of the year to now had turned to... eighteen. I began to walk slower until I reached the creaky old statue of the witch with the lump on her back, and I heard a noise. I looked around and spotted a pair of eyes from the darkness, staring at me. The dark eyes blinked. Philippe Nott. Make that nineteen. I looked back to the old witch, and a voice emitted from it.

"Took you long enough." If you turned Scorpius Malfoy's voice old and, uh, womanly, then you could kind of see the similarity. He jumped out from behind the old witch, grinning like a maniac. "No, seriously, took you long enough." He said in his normal voice, entwining his hand with mine as he walked over to me. Some would see this as a romantic act, but I knew, with Scorpius and I being so close, it was just friendly.

"Let's go," I said, starting to walk, then looked back, though I was still walking. The eyes were still there, blinking at me, their black pools disappearing completely into the night when I looked away. I turned forward and resumed my conversation with Scorpius, ignoring the appearance of the eyes, it didn't matter.

-A+R+S-

I woke up in the morning of the exams with an empty stomach and a pounding head. My tiredness melted away like snow on my tongue as I got up out of bed and made my way over to the bathroom and studied my reflection in the mirror. The girl in the reflection had big circles under her eyes, cracked lips, and messy hair. I decided, since it was ten after seven, and there was no classes until ten when the first exam(Transfiguration) took place, that I would do something I never did: take a shower in the morning.

As I stood in the warm water and massaged the shampoo into my slightly knotted hair, I began to hear the telltale sounds that told me that someone else was up already. It was probably Gracie, getting up to review her notes on switching charms, just so she wouldn't accidentally transplant her ears onto the cactus she was using in the practical exam, like, according to Professor Longbottom, had happened to him in his fourth year. Typical Gracie. But when I got out of the shower and changed into my normal clothes, my hair dried magically and my face clean and dry, I found, not Gracie, but Abby out of bed studying her notes. I sat down next to her.

"Nervous?" I asked, startling her so that she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, recovering from being scared out of her wits. Usually she reacted by screaming, but I'm glad she didn't this time; our dorm mates deserved sleep today, even the bitchy ones. Once she had calmed herself, she nodded guiltily.

"I can't stop worrying about how disappointed my father will be if I get a failing mark in DADA, or in any subject for that matter. Imagine his own daughter failing the class he teaches." Abby's father was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Seamus Finnigan, and her mother, Parvati Patil, had gotten all Exceeds Expectations or Outstandings in her OWLs for all but one subject in which she had gotten Acceptable. These were big footprints to fill in, especially for someone who already tried so hard, like Abigail.

"You'll be fine." I said, wrapping my arms around her and giving her a big hug. When I let her go, I examined what she was studying, and snorted. "Why are you studying this? This is at least 7th year material!" She grinned sheepishly.

"It's 6th year... It'd be cool to conjure a patronus." I thought of my little owl necklace, and smiled.

"It certainly would," I walked over to my bedside table and picked the necklace up; I had wanted to wear it when sleeping, but Lily told me that, even if the little pendant was mind-reading, the chain did not have any superpowers, so I should leave it alone. I had agreed, I already loved the little bird. The owl represented everything I wanted to have: keen sight for problems, wise, flighty, and mind reading. I wondered once again when my owl would speak.

"What's that?" Abby said, examining the pendant that hung around my neck with interest. "I've never seen you wearing it before."

"I got it from Teddy for my birthday." I said, then added. "Well, it was from Victoire and Teddy, but Teddy chose it."

"What does it do?"

"Other than be gorgeous around my neck you mean?" I said, pouting. "Why does it have to do anything?"

"No shit, Rosie. I know your family. When Scorpius got a present from your cousin on his birthday it blew up half of your wall." I gave up trying to hide it from her, although I knew she would have a romantic fit.

"It reads my mind."

"I said no shit."

"Not kidding."

"And then what does it do after it intrudes your personal space, Rosie? Tell it to someone else and embarrass you? Ooooh, that would be funny!" She giggled, and I gave her a go-find-someone-else-to-torture look.

"It answers a big love decision for me." I say, looking fondly down at my glass owl. Abby looked unimpressed.

"When you say 'a big love decision' you mean only _one?" _Abby asked incredulously, raising her eyebrows. I nodded, looking up at her defiantly. "That's a ripoff." Abby muttered. I hit her.

"My telepathic owl thinks differently."

"Sure, your telepathic owl would."

-A+R+S-

I sat down in the Great Hall, or what I would call the Great Hall's dorky other personality, for, instead of the house tables, it was filled with small wooden desks, each one with a sheet of parchment set on it and a quill, a massive hourglass set at the place where the teacher's table was set previously. Every one of the 5th year was to be seated in one of those small desks, and set to work. OWLs were a huge deal in Hogwarts, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts written test, as the last one, was the most essential. I was fairly confident that I would get either an E or an O, and only a twinge of slight nervousness chinked my armor, but poor Abby was wringing her hands next to me and muttering spells and facts under her breath, ensuring that most people either tried to squeeze as close to her as possible, to get in on the info, or backed away as though she were a fire hazard. I grasped her hand in mine and gave it a reassuring squeeze, but her eyes were still wild as we were ushered into the tight space(it seemed to have shrunk since I had last entered).

Through the clamor, no one really cared enough to want to choose seats, so we just sat in the closest desk to the spot where we were pushed. I ended up wedged between Abby and the wall, staring at the back of Scorpius' tall head in front of me, Albus next to him.

"You may..." Professor Mockingjay said, holding out the last word as she turned the big heavy hourglass over. "...begin." Scorpius turned behind him to give me an encouraging wink, and I smiled back and turned my paper over, and read the first question.

_1) Name the three curses known as 'The Unforgivables' state what they do, and tell at least one time when each curse was used in history. _I began to write: The three curses go by the names of...

-A+R+S-

"So, Gabby, it was easier than you thought it would be, right?" Lina said, getting up from her seat when we were dismissed and leaving her test paper on it. It's a funny thing with Abigail's nicknames. She has a bunch, which include Gabby, Abby, or Abs, but they're each used in special occasions. Abby is the one that everyone uses the most, everyday use. Some people don't even know that her given name is Abigail. Gabby is for when you know she's feeling sensitive, humoring her, because her mom always called her that when she was little. Abs is for having an inside joke and sometimes to annoy her, and Abigail, her birth name, is for when you want to be taken seriously. Around exams, we all called her Gabby.

"Yeah, it was cool." Abby said calmly. I noticed another piece of paper laying on Lina's desk and grabbed it before she could conceal it. I looked at it and burst out laughing, watching as the cartoon James kissed cartoon Lina while holding her hand, both smiling and sitting at the base of what appeared to be the Shrieking Shack.

"Nice drawing work Lina, I never thought you were that good." I said, impressed by the drawing but laughing too hard for it to sound genuine. Lina was bright berry red at this point, and she pulled a small stack of photographs out of her jeans pocket. I watched as the picture people moved around, depicting the same scene as was shown on the drawing, Lina and James holding hands, laughing, him kissing her on the cheek and whispering something in her ear, then kissing her on the mouth, them having fun. I 'aww'ed at the sweetness of the picture. "Who took these?" I asked, looking through the pictures, most of which depicted them holding hands or kissing, but some of the individual people. Gracie raised her hand.

"I had just gotten a polaroid camera from my grandparents, and I went kind of crazy." I smiled, remembering the day where she had insisted on setting the camera up so it would take a picture of us four, Lina, Abby, Gracie, and I, in our pajamas, at twelve o'clock at night. Surprisingly enough, it was a really good picture. We were all laughing our heads off by the end, because Gracie had accidentally set it to take ten. Each of us had a copy of each picture, and I planned to paste them up on my bedroom wall when I got home for summer. Scratch that, when I got home in less than a week.

-A+R+S-

I laughed as we walked down the path through the greenery, the sun shining brightly above. "It wasn't that much of a fail!" James defended as he walked down the path, pulling the dried ferns out of the way so we could get through.

"It was pretty good." Fred remarked as we remembered the time in James' third year when he had, once again, asked Lina out.

"Hey, you're not one to talk, you told me to do that!" James said, pointing a finger at his cousin a best friend with his free hand(the other was slung over Lina's shoulders).

"I just wanted a laugh. She would reject you whatever you did back then, so I might as well have some fun with it." James, instead of being offended, pulled Lina tighter to him.

"Well, it all had to be on her terms, didn't it?" he teased lightly as we sat down at the base of a big beech tree near the lake. Although it was late April, the lakeside was deserted, for all the students were probably trying to catch up on sleep they had lost from the exams.

"Any other way wouldn't have been possible." Lina said, sticking her nose in the air in fake contempt. James laughed and slung his arm back around her. It was fun, I decided, to sit out in the warm early summer air, after trying exams, just laughing. It would be James and Fred's last time here, since it was the last day of April, and on the fourth of June they would graduate._Who would've thought that James and Lina would actually get together, and compliment each other?_ I thought as I watched the young couple laugh and tease each other. James laughed at her dumb jokes, a youthful infectious laugh that melted with Joline's, which was melodic, soft, and carefree.

"You know what?" I said suddenly, staring at Lina and James, wiggling my finger between the two. "I think we can count on a definite marriage of these two later on." Lina flushed bright red, and James pulled her tighter against him. "I mean, look what I found as a doodle she was drawing." I said teasingly as Lina's mouth went comically into a indignant "o". I reached into my pocket for my new jean jacket and took out her drawing.

"HEY! THAT'S NOT YOURS!" Lina said, as I quickly folded the drawing into a paper crane as she chased me around the grounds. I threw the magical paper crane over to James, who opened it quick as a flash before his girlfriend grabbed it away, and looked at the picture inside. Fortunately for Lina, I had been smart enough to nick the picture of the two of them too, and taped it to the paper, so she wouldn't need an explanation. Lina's shoulders slumped in defeat as James examined the picture.

"Hey, I remember that picture..." he said, wrinkling his brow. He smiled at Lina and tossed the drawing to friend.

"Traitor." Lina muttered under her breath, flopping back down at the base of the tree. James sat down next to her.

"You love me." he said to her, kissing her on the mouth. Al groaned and looked away, and Scorpius laughed.

"Imagine if someone told you this was going to happen last year." Scorpius said to me, watching them. I shook my head.

"If someone told me this would happen at the end of last year, I would tell them they needed a healer to see to them." Al said. James broke away from Lina and glared at his brother.

"Very supportive, aren't you?"

"Speak for yourself, dear brother!" Al said poshly, sitting down where he was, a few feet away from the tree, Scorpius and I mimicking the action.

"I just said you _might_ be in Slytherin!" James said, leaning against the trunk and smirking at his younger brother.

"And I wasn't so I get to say that you're stupid now! You're stupiiiiddd!" Al chorused, singing the word 'stupid' out of key.

"Good for you Al."

"It is good for me."

"Tell that to your dinner, no one else cares." I added to the conversation, and Al concentrated his "debating" skills onto me *insert sarcastic snort here*.

"I resent that."

"I know." I said in a satisfied way, I had got him there.

-A+R+S-

I sat in the gold-draped Great Hall with my classmates, sitting according to year in seats, the parents behind us. The banner above our heads read: _**Congratulations Graduating Class of 2015! **_Watching James graduate, it would be like watching a brother graduate. The Weasley and Potter families were so tight nit that most of my cousins were almost as close as siblings to me, well, almost...

"Hey Hu." I said, spotting my brother and ruffling his hair affectionately. As a fourth year, Hugo was envied for being able to hang out with older students, such as myself and my cousins, and for being part of the sacred Weasley/Potter inside circle. Well, with my friends I call it Weasley/Potter/Malfoy, but if it was widely known as that, my father would explode.

"Hey sis! Like the decorations?" Hugo said, ruffling my hair right back, and gesturing around the Great Hall at the gold hangings.

"What can I say? We've always been favorites." I say, smirking at a passing Slytherin, who happened to turn around and be Philippe Nott, but no one could phase me now.

"Fuck you Weasley." Nott scowled, glaring at me.

"Fuck yourself Nott." I said, scowling back at the imposing Slytherin. He glared at me but moved on, leaving me to turn back to my brother.

"You... uh... handled that well," Hugo said tentatively, looking after Nott.

"What can I say? His negative presence has grown on me." I remarked cheerfully, looking around the crowded Great Hall, restored to its former glamor before the desks. Luckily Hugo didn't comment, but I could tell he was confused by my statement. I wasn't about to tell him, though. He couldn't take on Nott, and it wouldn't be wise of him to attempt to. "See you later." I said, spotting Scorpius and Al. I walked toward the place where they were sitting and sat down between them, interrupting their bickering. They looked up at where I was sitting between and gave me identical glares, and I smiled pleasantly.

"So, what were you arguing about today?" I said, pretending to look interested. Al stared at me in disbelief, probably because I refused to take his side. Scorpius gave me a sarcastic look that clearly stated: you've-played-dumb-about-this-before-you-know-what-it's-about, and of course I did. Scorpius, despite better his better judgement(I hope) had, a week ago, dated or hooked up with... drumroll please... Lily Potter. A stupid move on his part. Apparently, Lily being the drama queen that she is, over-exaggerated the breakup to her friend(although I knew for a fact that she hadn't cared at all) and her friend had told someone, who had spread the rumor that Lily had had her heart fiercely torn apart by none other than her brother's best friend, Scorpius Malfoy. Which was how Albus had heard it. Cue the atom bombs.

So I just sat in silence in between the two through the graduation ceremony. It wasn't very interesting, but there was a part where the little witch who teaches Charms burst into tears in the middle of her speech about how one of the students had cast a cheering charm on her once, and I could tell that everyone, like myself, were trying very hard not to laugh while she was being escorted out. Some of the graduating class began to laugh once she was gone however, James prominent among them, and the headmistress shot him a glare when she read the rest of the speech for the little charms professor. When they called up all the graduates one by one and said something about each, the headmistress seemed to choke on her words when James strode up, and, looking as though whoever made her say this would pay severely, she uttered:

"We thank you for providing us with the utmost fun and entertainment in the form of pranks, and we hope you will kindly pass the honor over to your cousin, younger brother, and his best friend." The whole hall burst into cahoots with boisterous laughter, and James gave a deep bow.

"I will do so Professor." he said, saluting first her then Albus, Scorpius, and I. Then he stopped for a moment, and used both hands in forms of guns and flicked them, one after another. I knew this day would stick in my head forever, and I stood up and saluted James back. Scorpius and Al stood and followed my lead, along with the other Weasley/Potters. The day was a blur, but I can always remember it with the many polaroids that Gracie took, along with other people. I took many with Al and Scorpius, squeezed between them, and with an arm around each of them. One I took with all the Weasley girls was posted on my mirror, along with one of Scorpius and I, and the four girls and I, and Al, Scorpius, and I. It was a remembrance. Printed in a huge frame sat a picture with everyone that I loved, it was hung on my wall. Fifth year was a beautiful start of my life as an adult, I thought then. Along the way, I would look back at my 15, 16, and 17th years, and groan and remember bruises and harsh endings, but right now, at the beginning of my summer, it felt perfect...

**THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL, ON APRIL 10th LOOK ON MY PROFILE, I'LL POST IT THEN!**


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